In the tent set up in the premises of the Polidesportivo de Aljezur, there will be, in the center, the kitchen where the chefs work and which turns on itself. All around, the customers will be seated, who, while eating, spy on the cooks who appear and disappear as the kitchen turns. Among the moments of this hide-and-seek, artists will also appear, in small theatrical sketches, which will be rotating on this culinary carousel.
From the imagination of Peter de Bie, director/cook, and from local products – sweet potatoes, arbutus, peanuts, honey, sausages, fish –, mixed with unexpected ingredients, dishes with flavors, colors and smells will emerge. to surprise diners – 55 each night.
This is, in short, the description of «Peep & Eat» (Peep & Eat), a culinary theater play that the Belgian company Laika presents on the 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th of November, at 20 pm, in Aljezur, with an appointment the opening of the project «till the sea», which was presented yesterday afternoon at Palácio da Ajuda, in Lisbon.
This is an original project that, aiming to combat tourist seasonality in the Algarve region, with a regular cultural program between the months of October and May, is part of the vast program «365 Algarve», curated by Dália Paulo.
After this premiere in Aljezur, where «Peep & Eat» takes place alongside the Sweet Potato Festival, which takes place nearby on the same days, this show that literally puts culture on the plate, then goes on to School EB 2,3 from Monchique, where he will perform from the 1st to the 4th of December.
The “Lavrar o Mar” project, which, in this first harvest, lasts until May of next year, but which, in reality, is part of a program planned until 2020, works in the territories of the neighboring municipalities of Aljezur and Monchique.
«We want to put that territory in turmoil, at a time when it is asleep», explained Madalena Victorino, who, with Giacomo Scalisi, directs the project «till the sea».
Or, as the mayor of Aljezur, who was also present at the press conference, would later say, "after the summer, when everyone thinks we're going to hibernate, that's not what's going to happen" and those two counties are full of spectacles, artists and creativity.
But, more than bringing culture and artists to the interior of the Algarve, this project wants to leave its “digital printing” in the territory, as explained by photographer João Mariano, whose design company 1000olhos, from Aljezur, created the logo. “Creating something that would remain in the territory, that would not be ephemeral, that would last”.
And the best way to leave this “fingerprint” is to involve the populations, which will be much more than mere spectators. Madalena Victorino stressed that the various moments and activities of «Lavrar o Mar» will count on «intense and diversified participation from those who live and are in Aljezur and Monchique».
In the case of “Peep & Eat”, in addition to local producers – distilleries, sausage factories, honey or medronho and sweet potato producers – where Peter de Bie has been discovering the ingredients for his sometimes fanciful dishes, the Community involvement also involves, for example, the actress that the production discovered in Aljezur or the cook at the Escola de Monchique, who is eager to participate.
This "involvement" is also present in the choice that was made from local parties – now the Sweet Potato Festival, in Aljezur, later New Year's Eve, in Monchique – to create a “contemporary art project that one wants sediment in this territory'.
Giacomo Scalisi added: “In Aljezur and Monchique, we don't have theaters, no formal places to host shows. But we have a fantastic landscape».
The second important moment of this festival «Lavrar o Mar» will take place between the 29th and 31st of December (21:00), in Monchique. Here, on the town's helipad, a tent will be set up, which will house the new circus show «Maintenant ou Jamais» (Now or Never), by the French company «Cheptel Aleïkoum, Circa Tsucia».
Music, trapeze, trampoline, bicycles, undisciplined humor will be the main ingredients of this show, designed «for the entire audience and for all families», as Scalisi pointed out. A very different way to make New Year's Eve, in the Monchique mountains.
After starting with the culinary theater show "Peep & Eat", in Aljezur (24th to 27th November) and Monchique (1st to 4th December), and the Novo Circo on New Year's Eve, in this last village (29th to 31st December), the “Lavrar o Mar” project has an ambitious program until May.
Thus, between January and March, artistic residencies will be held ("O Homem e o Fruto", between January 15th and March 15th, in Monchique, and "Rastilhos, Caminhos de Água, Bazaars and Pés Sem Terra" on 29th January and March 29, in Aljezur) and the result will be presented at the Artistic Encounters, held “in close collaboration with the populations”.
For the 17th, 18th and 19th of March, a weekend of «shows-walking» is scheduled, «to follow the medronho trail in the middle of the Monchique mountains», with visits to distilleries that will be transformed into small theatrical spaces.
The weekend “to walk through the lands of Aljezur and discover the imaginaries of dance, the new circus, music and theatre” is scheduled for March 31st and April 1st and 2nd.
And, finally, from the 19th to the 28th of May, the two municipalities will host the International Festival of Performing Arts.
The two mayors of Aljezur and Monchique, José Amarelinho and Rui André, also present at the press conference for the presentation of the “Lavrar o Mar” project at Palácio da Ajuda, in Lisbon, did not hide their satisfaction at seeing it about to materialize. , finally, a project that they have cherished and debated for a long time with its creators, Madalena Victorino and Giacomo Scalisi.
Rui André, mayor of Monchique, highlighted the fact that “themes around the products were chosen, so that we can look at them as an asset”. The fact is that, underlined the mayor, "behind the products there is a history, a very rich culture that has to be valued when we sell the product".
But the festival «Lavrar o Mar» is also important for the people themselves who, he argued, start to «see the territories not only as a place to survive – eat, sleep – but to live, in a more participative way, where they are part active'.
For his part, José Amarelinho, mayor of Aljezur, underlined that the couple of creators Madalena Victorino and Giacomo Scalisi are already “Aljezurenses”, since their artistic cooperative Casanostra is based in the municipality.
But he also highlighted the importance of “intermunicipality”, which brought together two neighboring municipalities in a single project. "Plowing the sea will enable the Serra de Monchique to embrace the sea of Aljezur," he said.
The 365 Algarve program, which includes more than a thousand cultural activities throughout the region, from 1 October last to 31 May next year, is intended to help combat the seasonality of Algarve tourism, resulting from «a wedding often coveted and often postponed between Tourism and Culture», as João Fernandes, vice-president of Algarve Tourism would say.
Miguel Honrado, Secretary of State for Culture, concluded the long press conference stressing that «when we talk about the cultural development of territories, we talk about bringing into relation, an aspect that is emblematic and eloquent in 365 Algarve and Lavrar o Mar ».
In relation to the latter, Miguel Honrado underlined the fact that it is “a project that was not designed to be carried out in one, two, three years, but which itself contains the requirement of having a structuring character”.
The government official also urged its promoters to "plow the sea to the horizon and reach their own identity." “We will definitely reach brilliant results”, he concluded.
Peep & Eat
NOVEMBER 24TH TO 27TH ~ 20PM
Aljezur Multisport
inserted in the Sweet Potato Festival of Aljezur
DECEMBER 1st to 4th ~ 20 pm
EB 2,3 Monchique School
DURATION: 1h50
M / 12
TICKETS:
8€ Adults
5€ Young people between 12 and 20 years old
Maintenant or Never
DECEMBER 29st to 31th ~ 21 pm
Monchique Helipad
DURATION: 1h45
M / 6
TICKETS:
5€ Adults
€2,5 for children up to 12 years old
Tickets for both shows available at www.bol.pt and adherent points of sale
for sale on site one hour before the start of the show
information: [email protected]
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues|Sul Informação
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