Theatre in Canada promotes the Portuguese language
The Alma Lusa theatre group of the Manitoba Portuguese Association in Winnipeg (west) premiered Saturday the play ‘The Ugly Girl’, the ‘best way to promote’ the Portuguese language in Canada.
“We want to promote the Portuguese language in Canada and nothing better than the theatre,” the group’s director, Lusa Paulo Delgado, 48, told Lusa today.
In Canada eight years ago, from Tomar (district of Santarém), Alma Lusa’s director underlined that the creation of a theatre group “on a regular basis was a gap” in the Portuguese community in Winnipeg.
Manuel Frederico Pressler’s play was staged in the showroom of the Portuguese Association of Manitoba in Winnipeg.
In the first session, about 300 spectators participated, which had subtitles in English, destined for the Canadian public.
The director explained that the choice of the piece was of its authorship by “infantile influences”.
“When I was younger, I saw ‘The Ugly Girl’ at RTP, at the time with Laura Alves, it was something that captivated me. In 2016 I went to Portugal, and I ran halfway around the world trying to find the text. access to the text through the theatre group Palha d’Abrantes, “he said.
The group was prepared for 18 months for the show which lasted for 90 minutes at intervals.
The Alma Lusa theatre group, founded in June 2017, is composed of 11 members, only four of whom were born in Portugal.
The remaining members are Portuguese descendants.
It is estimated that there are in the region of Winnipeg about 20,000 Portuguese and Portuguese descendants.
