Variedades Theatre: 100 Years of Memories
Today, July 8, 2025, Variedades Theatre, one of the cultural icons of Parque Mayer and the city of Lisbon, celebrates its 99th anniversary.
To kick off the celebrations for its centenary, which will take place in 2026, EGEAC – Lisboa Cultura is launching the campaign “Variedades Theatre: 100 Years of Memories” with the aim of collecting and preserving objects and stories told by those who lived there.
The “Variedades Theatre: 100 Years of Memories” campaign is an invitation to all those who keep, in a drawer or in their memory, pieces of this history: photographs, show programs, tickets, costumes, props, stories of those who were there, on this side or the other side of the curtain.
The collection will be on display until January 31, 2026 and is intended to form an exhibition that will open in 2026, made up of objects, images and real testimonies, in homage to the collective memory of this Lisbon stage.
“The greatest legacy of the Teatro Variedades is, without a doubt, its ability to reflect the soul of Lisbon”, observes the director of the Variedades Theatre and Capitólio, Joaquim René. “For almost a century, the Teatro Variedades has been the stage for emotions, satire, laughter, social criticism, culture and moments of pure joy. It has always been a popular and democratic theatre – accessible, vibrant, unprejudiced, attentive. We remember not only the artists who have passed through here, but also how the Variedades was a mirror of life in Lisbon, of its concerns and hopes”.
Reopened and returned to the city in October 2024, the Variedades Theatre today assumes a renewed role, but remains faithful to its origins. Regarding the place that this theater represents today in the cultural life of the city, Joaquim René highlights it as a meeting point between generations and artistic genres, but also as a space for creation and sharing, where tradition and innovation coexist: “We are reopening doors to memory, without nostalgia, but also to experimentation and contemporaneity. The role of Variedades today is that of a living theatre – one that honours its past, but has its eyes turned to the future of Lisbon’s culture”.
Memories can be shared by email to memoriasvariedades@egeac.pt or in person, on a day/time to be previously arranged through this address. Loans, digital transfers (scans or reproductions) or donations of objects are accepted.
For more information: www.egeac.pt.
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