Are you wondering what the “Panopticon” is? «It's a series of things»: a play in which everyone is creators and protagonists, in a story where the end is unknown. The show has its premiere scheduled for this Friday, June 18, at Teatro das Figuras, in Faro.
“Panoptic” is also “a kind of big brother every day», in a reference to the work “1984”, by George Orwell, in which “someone is watching us, even when we think we are not being observed”, says Fúlvia Almeida, one of the co-creators of the play, in an interview with Sul Informação.
A few days before the premiere at Teatro das Figuras, our newspaper went to watch the rehearsals of this show and, in addition to Fúlvia Almeida, spoke with Ricardo Mendonça, creative director.
The original idea is by Ricardo Mendonça, but the impulse to make the show came from the collective. The piece “always stayed in the drawer” by ArQuente – Associação Cultural, but with the launch of “Ciclo Emergente 2020”, “we thought it was the perfect time. We applied for this support and we succeeded!», says Fúlvia Almeida.
«Thought a long time ago», the piece, which has the “Panóptico”, an architectural conception, as a starting point, «reflects a lot of what we lived in the months of 2020, in which we were confined, and how we, as artists , we were living through that phase: creating at a distance from each other without touch».
The name of the piece comes from an architectural design, dating from the XNUMXth century, "a form of prison where a single guard, positioned in the center, can see all the prisoners without them being able to know if they are being observed or not", he explains, in turn, Ricardo Mendonça, artistic director of the show.
It is in this format that “Panóptico” will present itself. The stage will be arranged in a circular shape, with a capacity limited to 33/34 seats available in the room, and in which «the roles will be reversed».
“The prisoners will be in the center and the guards, sitting in their places, will observe everything that we represent during the show”, adds the artistic director.
In this show, there will not only be actors on stage. The play will feature Joana Costa, «to interpret, in a so-called Zoom, from Australia».
During rehearsals, the actress was never present in person with her fellow scene, but will represent her character through the projection of the video call in which she will be connected.
Another particularity is the presence of a «robot». One tablets which will have actor João Tatá Regala intervening with the other actors through previously recorded videos. “Due to the date changes, we saw that Tatá wasn't going to be here. So we had to change his way of entering the play to have his presence in the show».
«All these limitations, of being at a distance and of some not being able to be in person, are content», explains the creative director.
In this piece, everyone is creators and protagonists, with the creative direction entrusted to Ricardo Mendonça.
This is, in the words of the creative director, «a very heterogeneous group», which includes António Guerreiro, Carolina Cantinho, Fúlvia Almeida, Joana Costa, João Tatá Regala, Marisa Madeira, Teresa da Silva and Rui Gonçalves.
As for the expectations for the debut, «ArQuente has the idea of “let it go, let it flow”, and that, whoever comes, is here with us, taking what they want and giving us what they want”, says Fúlvia Almeida.
“I think it's going to be a very interesting show, to the point where someone goes home thinking about what they saw, what they felt, and that's going to be good. So I think it will be, above all, a good moment for sharing with people», concludes the co-creator of Panóptico.
The premiere of the play will take place this Friday, June 18, at 21 pm, at Teatro das Figuras in Faro, with another presentation of the show being planned for the same day, a little earlier.
The show has the support of “Ciclo Emergente 2020”, an initiative of the Municipality of Faro and the Theater of Figures.
Photos: Rúben Bento | Sul Informação
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