The story is not well known, but in the 60s and 70s, many young Portuguese people had to choose between going to the Colonial War or the arduous fishing of cod, in the icy waters of Newfoundland, off the coast of Canada. César Tróia, the main character of the new show by "Plowing the Sea", represents them all. “O Presente de César”, which opens next Thursday, November 28, is a culinary theater, where there will be food, action and a lot of drama.
In its original version, this show was conceived for Teatro Viriato, in Viseu, at the request of the Viseu Dão-Lafões Cultural Network. After having made “a great tour of that territory”, he arrived in the South at the hands of Giacomo Scalisi, the director, and one of those responsible for “Lavrar o Mar”.
The sessions will take place from November 28th to December 1st, at the headquarters of Rancho Folclórico do Rogil, municipality of Aljezur, at 19:30 pm, as part of the Sweet Potato Festival.
From the 5th to the 8th of December, “The Gift of César – Whoever goes to the Sea does not return to Earth” will be at the Casa do Povo in Alferce (Monchique), with shows at the same time.
For these exhibitions, there will be some adjustments, compared to the original. «Basically, it will be a more Algarvean version of this story, written by Sandro William Junqueira», explains Giacomo, to Sul Informação.
The heart of it all, n'Caesar's Gift, which will pass through Aljezur and Monchique, is cod. This fish that, «not being Portuguese, is as if it were».
«Cesar Tróia is a person who, at a certain moment, is called to military service and has the option: either war or cod fishing. Both choices were difficult. People died a lot», says the cultural programmer.
Those who chose to head to Newfoundland, off the coast of Canada, spent six months away from home, "abandoning everything".
“They caught cod with the so-called line fishing, carried out in such adverse conditions. These people, in the end, when they went to sea, ended up never coming back. Even if they returned physically, their minds and thoughts were always there», says Giacomo Scalisi.
It is of these dramas that the show speaks. The story, as has already happened in other initiatives of “Lavrar o Mar”, will be accompanied by food, in a kind of inflight menu.
The first course will be a chora: a soup, made from cod faces, which was eaten by these brave fishermen. This is followed by a different cod, as it will be accompanied by sweet potatoes, mushrooms and chestnuts. To finish off, there's a Monchique pear, accompanied by fried cod tongues with cinnamon and honey ice cream.
From an emotional point of view, Giacomo guarantees that this “Gift of Caesar” will be “very strong”. «There are stories that are little known and that show how a dish we love so much embodies a profound history of Portugal», he says.
In the records consulted at the Museu de Ílhavo, when he performed the show there, within the scope of the Dão-Lafões Network, Giacomo Scalisi tells that he found cases “of people from Aljezur and Monchique who went for cod fishing. It's something we're going to show».
The director and cultural programmer of the “till the sea” has “great expectations for this show”, mainly because of the “emotional charge it entails”.
So, you already know, if you want to surf the waves of this “Presente do César”, the best thing is to hurry up and buy tickets (10 euros). Can do it here
“Lavrar o Mar” has the support of the Municipal Councils of Aljezur and Monchique. in addition to 365Algarve, CRESC Algarve and the Directorate General of Arts also financially support the project.
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