Tribute to Sophia de Mello Breyner opens International Festival

The director of the Cultural Association of Tondela said that the International Theater Festival (FINTA) begins with a tribute to Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen on Wednesday, and ends with the presentation of the third theater book.

“Our debut is also a striking point, always, of the festival, which is the company’s own DNA to be reflected in the FINTA this year, with ‘Para Ti, Sophia’, a spectacle that is fundamentally a tribute, in this case in a very incisive way, to a great Portuguese writer and poet, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, “explained the director of the Cultural and Recreational Association of Tondela (ACERT), José Rui Martins.

This 24th edition of FINTA runs until Saturday, 17th, with music, dance, illusionism, theater, workshops, an exhibition and the preview of the show “for Sophia”, which follows “immediately, on a tour of the schools and special shows as has been done regularly, “with other pieces presented at the festival.

“We had already gone drinking to his [Sophia’s] writing, episodically, but in this case it is a matter of picking up the words and the narrative of Sophia de Mello Breyner to make this spectacle of which we are very satisfied with the results” the director of ACERT refuses any glue to the commemorations of the centenary of the writer’s birth, November 6, 1919.

According to José Rui Martins, “the first objective did not have this character, still [which] is perfectly normal”. It is a spectacle they had on the agenda “for a long time,” although she acknowledged that the centenary of the writer “is, of course, more attractive and can be an incentive for the entities that organize the shows, either local authorities or libraries, rooms “of the country.

“It is a journey through the environment, whether lyrical or fantastic, of the work of Sophia de Mello Breyner and treatment of the dramatologies created around her texts, her poetics. Even though [it] is not reflected, it is always underpinned by a text that the author uses to build the characters, to live within the poetic environment, “he explained.

The 24th edition of FINTA is attended by Companhia de Dança Rastro, from Brazil, “with the support of the Secretary of Culture of the State of Ceará, under the exchanges made with other festivals and groups throughout the year.”

“FINTA reflects a set of relationships established by Trigo Limp [the theater company of the structure] in its tours, both nationally and internationally, to the extent that many of the shows or fruits [result] from contacts that it makes in its digressions and also of cultural exchange with other festivals and groups as is the case of the Brazilian group, “explained José Rui Martins.

During the four days of the festival, there is space for Companhia O Último Momento and Colette Gomette, from France, for an exhibition by Fernando Taborda, for the participation of Peripécia Theater, from Vila Real to the Conservatory of Music and Arts of Dão, of Santa Comba Dão, and for the Red Cloud Theater of Marionetas, headquartered in Aveiro.

With the aim of being a festival “with diversified moments and with the widest range of possible audience”, there is also a workshop by the Theater and Puppets of the Mandrake, Espinho, the launch of the CD “The small big thumb”, Wheat Clean Theater ACERT as well as the launch of the third theater book of the host company.

“A very special moment of FINTA, which gives it identity, [is] the edition of another book with a text, among the many that Trigo Clean Theater ACERT adapted to the theater, the output of another book with the text of the ‘from the black’, so that the groups take in this text and adapt it to the contemporaneity “, challenged the director.

A work that, according to José Rui Martins, “is very important, that is, the enrichment of theatrical texts”, and since the “Clean Wheat” has so many – because in the background it makes its way, taking in texts that are not dramatic and creating dramatic texts “-, turns out to be a” job that greatly enamours “the creators of the Beira company.

“To know that we are going to pick up dozens of texts every year and adapt to the theater, to ‘regain’ innovation and creativity on the stage, and hoping that whoever picks up the book will treat it in its time, with its reality, with his cast, to give him new life … It is an incredible contentment to know that a son gains a new life. It is extraordinary, “he said.

FINTA opens its doors this Wednesday, November 14, at 2:30 PM with the preview of “Para ti, Sophia” and ends on the 17th, at 9:45 PM, with the Brazilian dance company presenting “Currais “at ACERT headquarters in Tondela, Viseu district.