On the 6th of July, Thursday, the Almada Festival opens its doors on the Esplanade of the D. António da Costa School, at 6 pm, with Colloquiums on the Esplanade.
Pedro Mexia, author of the text Sweden, and Nuno Cardoso, director of the show, which Teatro Nacional S. João presents for the last time at the Festival, are the speakers of the colloquium moderated by Helena Simões. After the colloquium, at 7 pm, you can see the show in the Main Room of the TMJB. At 8.30 pm, during dinner, you can listen to the band Miguel Ângelo Quarteto on the Esplanade Stage (entrance is free).
September 1976. After half a century of uninterrupted governance, the Swedish Social Democratic Party, despite winning the elections, won fewer deputies than the center-right bloc (liberals, conservatives, and agrarians), which is thus on the verge of reaching power. Egerman, a bitter sixty-year-old intellectual, does not hide his delight at the end of the Social Democratic consulship, which he sees as a bland version of the despotic paradises of Marxism-Leninism to which he adhered in his youth. Supporter of the end of illusions, because he no longer has any, allegedly widowed (actually divorced), away from the university where he taught, Egerman decided to “retreat from the world” and lives on a beautiful and melancholic island in Stockholm Archipelago. The elections coincide with the wedding of Monika, Egerman’s daughter, which takes place on the island.
“In Sweden, they say you don’t need social distancing because that’s being Swedish.” Writer Pedro Mexia’s fascination with this Scandinavian country is public and notorious. Sweden – a work that marks his debut as a playwright – plays with the suspicion that we all have ‘a certain idea’ of Sweden. Controversial mythology, let’s say: the ‘metaphysical-anguished’ country of Bergman’s films, the (lost?) paradise of social democracy, but also the homeland of the infernal Strindberg or the sugary ABBA. Sweden is a place where people discuss the idea of the future, the end of illusions, and good intentions. A place where the lines of demarcation between the political and the intimate blur.
Sweden (Main Hall of the Municipal Theater Joaquim Benite, on the 5th at 9.30 pm and on the 6th at 7 pm)
- Text: Pedro Mexia
- Directed by: Nuno Cardoso
- Interpretation: António Fonseca, Joana Carvalho, Jorge Mota, Lisa Reis, Patrícia Queirós, Paulo Freixinho and Pedro Frias
- Scenography: F. Ribeiro
- Music: Pedro “Peixe” Cardoso
- Movement Support: Roldy Harrys
- Light design: Cárin Geada
- Costume Design: Nelson Vieira
- Directing assistance: Mafalda Lencastre
- Dramaturgical support: Madalena Alfaia
- Portuguese language
- Duration: 1h30m
- Rating: M/12
- Price: 20€
Always confirm with the concert hall or promoter the conditions of access, confirmation of the date or time, tickets place of sale, price, and availability.
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