There will be room for some “artfully bolder projects”, as well as for local production, but that is not why we will stop presenting “more popular” shows that appeal to a wider audience. These are the premises of Teatro das Figuras' programming for the 1st quadrimester of 2018, which was presented yesterday, January 24, in this cultural space of Faro.
In the coming months, the public can count on several proposals mainstream, which promise to attract a lot of people to the Figures, such as the show “Simone, the musical”, between tomorrow and Sunday – with three sessions sold out and the fourth on its way to sell out -, the concerts by Camané (3 February), Rui Veloso (30 March) and Raquel Tavares (30 April) and the return of “Commedia à la Carte” (21 April).
Also noteworthy is the passage in Faro of the “Glenn Miller Orchestra” (9th February), by Richard Galliano, accompanied by the Algarvian Gonçalo Pescada (25th February), the Portuguese singer Sara Tavares (14th February), the play “The last day of a condemned person”, with Virgílio Castelo (17th March), and by the Brazilian band “Liniker e os Caramelows” (8th April).
But according to Gil Silva, delegate director of Teatro das Figuras, it was also chosen “to take some risk”, betting on more alternative shows.
For this, a program cycle was created, “Às Quintas no Teatro”, through which national projects will be shown, two of which with an Algarve touch.
On the 1st of February, next Thursday, the show “Dança”, conceived and staged by Francisco Campos, from the Ruínas Project, which, in addition to its creator, will have Leonor Keil and João de Brito as interpreters, will take to the stage. last from the Algarve Arts and Media Laboratory (LAMA), partner of this production.
In March, the dance show “Unbounded” arrives from Viseu, signed by choreographer Romulus Neagu and performed by João Santiago, co-creator of this production.
In April, Teatro das Figuras hosts, under this heading, a contemporary opera inspired by the poem “Tabacaria”, by Álvaro de Campos, heteronym of Fernando Pessoa, with music by Luís Soldado and staged by Alexandre Lyra Leite. On stage will be Rui Baeta baritone from Faro and soprano Inês Simões, who will be accompanied by a quartet directed by Rui Pinheiro, principal conductor of the Orquestra Clássica do Sul.
“Às Quintas no Teatro” is just one of the three cycles that were scheduled in this 1st quarter of 2018. The Farense cultural structure also created a special space to host creations from the Invicta City, the “Porto em Faro".
In this context, the shows “Climas”, by the Circolando company (24th February), “A Tecedeira que lia Zola”, by the Teatro Experimental do Porto (26th April), and “A Ballet Story”, a production will be presented in the Algarve. by Victor Hugo Pontes, which premiered at Guimarães European Capital of Culture and has been circulating the country since then (28 April).
The “Noites de Sofa” cycle will also be re-edited, where more intimate shows can be performed, in what is intended to be a recreation of the living room of our houses. This cycle takes place in the first three days of March and will have as guests the Algarve band “Riding a Meteor” (on the 1st), the trio “Harmonies” (on the 2nd of March) and “Six Organs of Admittance, by the North American Ben Chasny (March 3).
«What we tried, in the end, was to strike a balance between the more mainstream and the boldest and most difficult-to-read shows that also have to be shown. The public needs this, to be encouraged and see other things beyond what is seen everywhere», summed up Gil Silva.
To set up the programming for this and the other quarters of 2018, the acting director of Teatro das Figuras has an increased budget, which turns out to be a sign of a positive evolution of the theater, which in 2017 had its best usual year, at the audience level.
In 2018, the Municipal Theater's budget Faro amounts to 850 thousand euros, when, last year, it was around 700 thousand euros. This amount will have to be used not only for contracting shows, but also for some infrastructure improvements.
«For two years we have been making significant investments in Teatro das Figuras. We made interventions inside, including the almost total renovation of the light and sound equipment», framed Paulo Santos, vice-president of the Chamber of Faro, during the presentation of the schedule.
Now, the bet will be made on the outside, more precisely "in the back of the building, to improve access to the small auditorium and all that area, as well as in the front, where there are many slabs coming out". The solutions to be adopted "are still under study", said Paulo Santos, but the idea is to carry out an intervention that will allow, not only to solve the existing problems, but also to prepare the theater's front patio to host events.
For now, and because the meteorology advises it, the initiatives in Teatro das Figuras already scheduled will take place indoors. But when the heat starts to pick up, it's likely to be possible to go to this cultural space to see outdoor shows.
Comments