original title: A FESTA
Seven friends get together in a house to celebrate New Year’s Eve. They’re all there because they have nowhere else to be, but even if they did, maybe they would be there anyway. Throughout this party, the web of friendship and intimacy between this group will be at stake and they will all have a glimpse of a darker and more painful side of their relations, like the hidden part of an iceberg.
The Party is a collective creation, written by three authors and staged and performed by the whole cast. This performance was the result of the first edition of the project Estúdios, organized by Mundo Perfeito every year in Teatro Maria Matos, in Lisbon. In 2008, Estúdios had as a starting point three workshops directed by Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper (artistic directors of the american company Nature Theatre of Oklahoma), the congolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula and by the portuguese film director João Canijo. Having taken part in these workshops, the portuguese artists then brought their experiences together into the creation of The Party.
written by Filipe Homem Fonseca, Nelson Guerreiro and Tiago Rodrigues performed by Cátia Pinheiro, Cláudia Gaiolas, Joaquim Horta, Marcello Urgeghe, Rita Blanco, Tiago Rodrigues and Tónan Quito set, light and video Thomas Walgrave production and photography Magda Bizarro production assistance Moirika Reker artistic collaboration João Canijo, Faustin Linyekula, Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper
production Mundo Perfeito and Teatro Maria Matos in co-production with Festival de Almada 2008, Alkantara Festival, DEVIR/CAPa and Casa das Artes de Vila Nova de Famalicão
This performance premiered in July 2008, at Teatro Maria Matos, Lisbon, and toured in Famalicão (Casa das Artes) Guarda (Teatro Municipal) and Ourense, Spain (FITO).