Part of Teatro Lethes' programming for the first semester may be at stake due to delays in the entry into force of the new normative framework for the support of the arts, admitted Luís Vicente, director of ACTA – A Companhia de Teatro do Algarve, resident company of this cultural space Farense and responsible for its programming.
The actor and director, who has long lived in the Algarve, admits that the «working conditions» of cultural agents may be at stake, due to delays in the arrival of support for the programming, and that he cannot be certain that this will not affect the programming.
“We are working to ensure that this does not happen. But right now I'm not sure. If the Secretary of State does not solve the problem and if he does not do it in the next few days, I will have to take measures», revealed Luís Vicente, in an interview with the Impressões program, jointly promoted by Sul Informação and by Rádio Universitária do Algarve.
«The General Directorate of Arts, with the new normative framework, created a problem for us here. And he doesn't just place himself in relation to ACTA, it also affects other structures», he said.
The director of ACTA recalled that the Government began to review the framework for granting support to the arts in 2016, having therefore «prolonged the funding for another year, that is, during 2017, precisely to have time to listen to the class. and draw up procedures'.
“On the 11th of June I alerted the Secretary of State to the issue of creating the normative framework. He replied that this year would still be a little late, but that it would be normalized in the following years. I deduced, as well as other people who were present, that by March 2018, things would be resolved», said Luís Vicente.
“It so happens that on January 9th I am confronted with a picture that makes me very scared: it's not March, it's June. In other words, half a year goes by and we are unable to work», he assured.
It is this reality that leads the director of ACTA to fear some of the shows planned for Teatro Lethes, in the first semester, may have to fall. “We cannot be hanging in this way. We have commitments with two people who are in Canada and with another who travels around the world, who in principle will fly from Paris, and we have to respond”, he summed up.
In this second case, it is the renowned French set designer and thinker of scenic spaces Jean-Guy Lecat, who had already collaborated with ACTA in the production “Waiting for Godot”, in 2015.
“I had to arrange things with Jean-Guy Lecat well in advance. He arrived here from Houston a long time ago, where he was a technical consultant for a piece of equipment they built there. Sometimes he arrives from Moscow, sometimes from Berlin… As you can imagine, this is a person with a complicated schedule. This is no joke at all," he said.
The situation, he admitted, is complicated, but it's not all bad news. This is because the new regulatory framework, which will be in force from 2018 and in the years to come, should solve a problem that Algarve cultural agents have been struggling with for a long time.
«In principle, and after so much struggle, things are headed to be resolved, in an aspect that was very disturbing, unfair and even undemocratic: the structures of North, Centre, Vale do Tejo and Alentejo could compete for support of up to 400 thousand euros and those in the Algarve only up to 250 thousand," he said.
In any case, the director of ACTA does not fail to stress that the Algarve "has been highly harmed by these State funding" over the years.
until you can surf in calmer waters (and rich), ACTA will still have to wait for at least summer.
The complete interview to Luís Vicente can be heard here.
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