PALIMPSESTO

O que se apaga para escrever de novo?

Theatre · creation and direction · 2024

Photo: Alexandre Paixão

PALIMPSESTO draws on the metaphor of the successive writings of a palimpsest to investigate the layers involved in the construction of Portuguese identity. Moving between theatre, comedy and performance, four figures attempt to answer a question that runs throughout the work: what does it mean to be Portuguese today?

The title refers to the palimpsest, a surface written over in successive layers. The Portuguese subtitle O que se apaga para escrever de novo? asks: “What is erased in order to write anew?”

The creative process developed through walks and investigations carried out in Alfama, Mouraria, Amadora and Oeiras. Observing these territories, their transformations and the stories that remain within them or disappear fed into the construction of the scenes and brought questions of identity and nationality into relation with Lisbon’s urban transformations.

On stage, different perspectives on Portugal bring historical memory, colonial legacy, immigration, gentrification, tourism, inequality and belonging into tension. A direct relationship with the audience runs throughout the direction, combining speech, physical composition, music, projection and participation to question not only what constitutes a national identity, but who has the power to define it.

Photo: Alexandre Paixão

DIRECTION

The direction brings together comedy, performance and direct audience participation. Without conventional scenography, the scenes are constructed through the performers’ bodies, small props, music, projections and different spatial compositions.

The fourth wall is constantly crossed. The audience no longer occupies only the position of observer, but becomes part of the work’s dynamics, while the scenes move between musical numbers, choreographed movement, narration and situations of direct confrontation with the audience.