«I could hardly stop the tears», confessed, in a choked voice, Marta Martins, the president of the Parish Council of Marmelete, after watching one of the two parts of the show. Strawberry #2, which, these days, is being presented in his village.
«During the fires, the animals were silent (...) during the fires, the old people died more», said the actress Marta Gorgulho, giving voice to the words of the writer Afonso Cruz, first in the old press, then in the Senhor distillery Jose Maria.
In this way, the young mayor gave voice to the sentiments of the majority of the group who, last week, attended the preview of the show, almost all people from the land, who have already seen the fire hovering several times.
Giacomo Scalisi, responsible for yet another production of the project till the sea, had already explained what they were going to talk about: «the fire did not reach Marmelete, who only saw it from afar last summer. Around here, we still have strawberry trees and strawberry trees, but fire is always a potential inhabitant and character of this territory». And there he was, always present. A monster.
The show, which opened last week, with four sessions completely sold out, returns today to the distilleries, streets and other unusual spaces of the village of Marmelete, for the final four performances, until Sunday, also without tickets.
At a time, there are about 50 people, divided into two groups, who sometimes follow Marta Gorgulho, sometimes Neusa Dias, through the distilleries of Marias or Quinta Velha, through the old winery or Casa do Povo, through the streets, in an almost reverential silence.
From the mouths of the two actresses come the words of Afonso Cruz, which tell the story of Carlos, whom they called the Urso, and who one day “sent the fire down the slope”. Carlos, "the man who looked at the flames from the front." Carlos, "the man whose sentences always end in a comma".
The spaces where the story of Carlos, of fire, of the many fires that haunt the mountain is told, are always lit by oil lamps and candles. The background in some of these places is the liquid sound of the brandy thread that flows unhurriedly from the still. Through the streets, echoes the barking of dogs, agitated by the unusual passage of so many people or the sound of the church clock, no longer the rhythmic beating of the bell, but an electronic and almost metallic sound.
In the middle of this almost pilgrimage through the memories of the land and its cathedrals of the medronho, you will eat (farinheira, wild boar, bread) and, above all, you will go, above all, tasting the medronho, in little mosquitoes that you have to drink in a single drink. "Do we drink?" asks actress Neusa Dias at the Quinta Velha distillery, owned by Senhor Filipe. "We drink!", the audience responds obediently.
«First we smell the mountain and the bush, then we leave it in our throat, then the fire». Yes, because drinking strawberry brandy from a gulp also creates fires, interiors.
While you are already on the ground preparing the next Lavrar o Mar show, with the French company Basinga and the funambulist Tatiana Mosio Bongonga, from this Thursday until Sunday, over 200 people from all over the Algarve, neighboring Alentejo and even Lisbon, Portuguese and foreigners, will be able to attend another one moment of enchantment, with «Medronho #2. Serra, chapter two», a theater show on low fire.
In May, the texts are written by Sandro William Junqueira, from the show Strawberry #1 (which happened in November), either by Afonso Cruz, from Strawberry #2, will be edited in a book. Giacomo Scalisi revealed to Sul Informação that the process is already underway, with translations into English to be done. The audience that has been watching these performances marveling is grateful. And those who didn't watch will thank you.
The cultural program Lavrar o Mar, promoted by the Cosa Nostra cooperative, is part of the program 365 Algarve, also with the financial support of the General Directorate of Arts, CRESC Algarve 2020 and the Municipalities of Monchique and Aljezur.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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