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São Luiz welcomes Pessoa according to Bob Wilson
Show by the american master marks a new season full of concerts
This is a new season full of great moments of artistic creation. Until next July, on the stages of the eclectic Teatro São Luiz is a space for theater and dance, for music and opera, for literature, science and thought. According to artistic director Miguel Loureiro, there are dozens of proposals to continue to make the municipal theater a "central" place for "an effervescent artistic life of local, national and international creators and cultural agents".
A living legend of contemporary theater, the North American master Robert Wilson returns to Lisbon next year with PESSOA – Since I’ve Been Me, an evocation of the different atmospheres of the works and heteronyms of the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, born very near Teatro São Luiz, in Largo de São Carlos.
Co-production between Lisbon’s municipal theater, the Florentine Teatro della Pergola and the Parisian Théâtre de la Ville, this “last rêverie” by Bob Wilson, as artistic director Miguel Loureiro calls it, has dramaturgy by Darryl Pinckney – Wilson’s regular collaborator, author of the magnificent Mary said what she said, a show that marked the 2019 edition of Almada Festival – and features an international cast including actress Maria de Medeiros. These ingredients make PESSOA – Since I’ve Been Me one of the most anticipated shows of the next season and, since there are only two performances (March 7th and 8th), judging by Wilson’s theater’s previous visits to Portugal, tickets tend to sell out fast.
However, São Luiz’s season is far from being limited to this event. There are many theater proposals that the 2024/2025 season lists, starting in September, when Ivo Alexandre presents his vision of Amedée ou Como Desembaraçar-se (from 20 to 29), a landmark in the theater of the absurd authored by the French-Romanian playwrighter, Eugène Ionesco.
The great authors are, in fact, highlighted, with Arthur Miller and As Bruxas de Salem, directed by Nuno Cardoso (December 13 to 15 ); Shakespeare by Miguel Moreira and Útero, with Hamlet – L’ Ange du Bizarre (December 19 to 22); Nathalie Sarraute and the plays Por tudo e por nada and Aqui está ela staged by Carla Bolito, in a show entitled Tudo A Que Se Chama Nada (11 to 26 January); Heiner Müller and Macbeth, according to Paulo Castro, Portuguese director residing in Australia back in Lisbon (February 14 to 23); or Heinrich Von Kleist by Maria Duarte, in a creation without a definitive title (March 22 to 30). Closing the season, Jean Paul Bucchieri brings Livro XI das Confissões de Santo Agostinho to the stage, with Bárbara Branco, Cláudio da Silva, Maria Arriaga and Pedro Lacerda in the cast (June 28 to July 5); and Renata Portas stages Seneca’s version of The Trojan Women (July 10 to 13).
Still in the field of theater, Teresa Sobral directs Class Enemy, a play from the late 1970s by British Nigel Williams (October 12 to 27); Cucha Carvalheiro celebrates the 30th anniversary of Escola de Mulheres with the staging of a new piece by Ana Lázaro entitled Deseja-se Fernanda!, dedicated to the founder of that company, Fernanda Lapa (March 15 to 23); and Assédio, a company from Porto, presents a reflection on the colonial war, with A Tragédia de Aristides Inhassoro, by Pedro Galiza (April 24 to 27). The programme also includes creations by Hotel Europa (Urgência Climática), Raquel André (Belonging / E di / Pertenencia / Zugehörigkeit / Pertença / 絆), Os Possessos (Last Call), Lígia Soares (Romance), Marco Paiva (A Tempo) e Miguel Graça (Killer Joe). The Alkantara and FIMFA Lx festivals will take place on São Luiz stages, as usual.
Dance and performance are also very important. For the season, Miguel Loureiro begins, in September, to focus on a double programme with two shows by the collective Dançando com a Diferença – Blasons, by François Chaignaud, premiered in 2022, and Doesdicon, created by Tânia Carvalho in 2017 (19 to 21); and, again, Tânia Carvalho, but this time alongside Matthieu Ehrlacher, in the project that the duo has been developing since 2021, Papillons d’éternité, with the play Nymphalis Antiopa, created and performed by both.
In the coming months, marking the city’s cultural agenda are Rui Horta (the choreographer signs Glimmer with Micro Audio Waves, a musical, performance and multimedia show, with the participation of Gaya de Medeiros), Catarina Miranda (Atsumori), Vânia Rovisco (No Corpo: Assim se Conhece o Mundo), Filipa Francisco and Bruno Cochat (NU MEIO and NU MEIO Comvida, with participations by Félix Lozano, Sónia Batista, Margarida Mestre, Miguel Pereira and Carlota Lagido), Circolando (OU) and Olga Roriz (O Salvado). In performance, highlights include Ritó Natálio, with Spillovers, from Lesbian peoples: material for a dictionary, by Monique Wittig and Sande Zeig; the return of Romain Beltrão Teule, with Dobra; and e(u)co(m)lógica by José Laginha, a creation for young people that combines the climate crisis with the functioning of the human brain.
A Place for Music
From the first minute as artistic director of Teatro São Luiz, Miguel Loureiro made a strong commitment to music programming. The upcoming season places the municipal theater at the epicenter of the offer, and music in parity with the performing arts. An obvious sign is that the season opens “with two concerts in a different format” by Júlio Resende. The talented pianist presents, on September 13th, Fado Jazz – Filhos da Revolução, and the following night, alongside ALMO (tenor Paulo Lapa and baritone Tiago Matos), a surprising journey through fado and the Portuguese Songbook. This weekend, on the night of Friday the 13, musician, choreographer, dancer and DJ Faizal Mostrixx, pioneer of tribal electronics, is “master of ceremonies” at the opening party of the season.
Until the end of the year there are many shows scheduled like MirAnda (September 24), Samuel Úria (October 8), Rafael Riqueni (October 11), Maria João & André Mehmari (November 8), Tony Ann (November 9), Rocío Márquez & Bronquio (November 10), Lena d’Água (November 12), Sara Correia (November 25), LINA_ (November 27), Cara de Espelho (November 29), Cristina White (December 5) and Kavita Shah (December 20). Besides a great concert commemorating the centenary of Amílcar Cabral (November 6) and the last two moments of Foco Maestro cycle with Martim Sousa Tavares (in December), World Music Day (October 1) is celebrated with the show Cantexto, dedicated to Alentejo singing, with the presence of eight groups of singers.
With the closure of São Carlos National Theater for improvement works, São Luiz hosts some of the shows included in the neighboring theater’s programming, namely in the area of chamber music and opera.
In 2025, the three rooms of São Luiz will welcome Pedro Jóia, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, Kolme, Nuno Vieira de Almeida (with Rita Blanco), Orquestra do Hot Clube Portugal or Nuno Côrte-Real.
The season also has an extended offer in the field of thought and science, with emphasis on another edition of the cycle O Nosso Futuro Ainda Humano, which opens on September 17 with the Basque philosopher and essayist Daniel Innerarity.
In the field of literature, it is worth highlighting the staged reading of O Mundo Começou às 5 e 47 to mark Luiz Francisco Rebello’s 100th birthday. On September 15, from 4 pm, with Marques d’ Arede, Ivo Alexandre, Marco Mendonça, Álvaro Correia, Cátia Nunes, Diogo Fernandes and Márcia Cardoso, directed by Miguel Sopas.
In November, a sound installation marks the 30th anniversary of Galeria Zé dos Bois and, in 2025, the collective Filho Único proposes a special programme for three days. This, in detail, and everything else, can be consulted on the official website of São Luiz Teatro Municipal.
