Who are they and what are the characteristics of amateur theater groups in the Algarve? Do they fit within groups already identified by researchers, in other countries, or are there phenomena unique to the region? What distinguishes an amateur theater group from a professional one? These are questions that the I Jornadas do Teatro Amador do Algarve, taking place on April 28 and 29 at Teatro das Figuras, will try to answer and themes that the Center for Research in Arts and Communication (CIAC) of the University is focusing on of the Algarve.
The director of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the Algarve University António Branco is one of the people in the region who is dedicated to this work.
In addition to being a researcher at CIAC, he is artistic director of the theater group "A Peste", a laboratory of this art at the service of science.
He was also a guest on the radio program Impressões, jointly organized by Sul Informação and by Rádio Universitária do Algarve Rua FM (102,7 FM).
The idea of carrying out this initiative, to which representatives of amateur theater groups in the Algarve were invited, arose precisely from research carried out in this area. CIAC is developing a project “on how amateurs appropriate the techniques of so-called professional theater to make theatre”, a pioneering study in Portugal.
«As part of this great project, where we are trying to characterize the nature of amateur theatre, it seemed to make sense to organize these days here in Faro», said António Branco.
“These days have two main objectives. From the outset, put in contact the members of the various amateur groups, and there are already many who do theater in the Algarve, because it is not very common to have a space where they can meet, meet and exchange experiences», explained the UAlg professor.
"Secondly, provide them with a moment of reflection and debate that can be useful for everyone and also for the researchers who will be present and who will, of course, collect the testimonies that are given throughout the days to have elements to reflect and investigate what this is about amateur theater», he added.
In this field, the Algarve, «perhaps because it has been away from decision-making centers for centuries», has always been marked by an «intense amateur theater activity». At the moment, estimates António Branco, there will be «more than 20 amateur theater companies», to which some professionals are added, a high number for a region like the Algarve.
This mapping of the amateur theater activity in the Algarve, done with the help of the Regional Directorate of Culture, which supports this event and whose responsible, Dália Paulo, «has been an extraordinarily important interlocutor», turns out to be the only part of the work that can be done. consider completed. Hence the importance of the event that takes place at the end of this month.
Reflection is made by those who are the object of investigation.
To better understand this phenomenon, the organizers of the Jornadas de Teatro Amador do Algarve invited representatives of the theater groups, who will participate in successive work tables. "Each table will have a theme and two representatives from two different theater groups, who will talk about that theme based on their experience", framed by a moderator, he described. "This is not an amateur theater festival," he stressed.
“A number of national figures will also be present. At the opening table, for example, Fernanda Lapa, not because she practices amateur theater, but because that's where she started, with a great master of Portuguese theater, Fernando Amado. She will tell about the experience she had», he said.
Professor José Louro, a reference in the region when it comes to amateur and school theater, is another guest, as well as professor Eugénia Vasques, «specialist in Theatrical Aesthetics», and actress Manuela de Freitas, who will be responsible for produce the final reflection of the journeys.
These days could result in a book, with interventions and debates, but this is a project that “will depend on its own application”.
Participation in these days is open to the general public, but those interested must register in advance, "for logistical reasons". «On the CIAC platform, there will be a device for people to register», revealed António Branco.
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