A Solidão da Casa do Regalo
22nd Production
Premiere: 14/11/2003

ACTA - A Solidão da Casa do Regalo ACTA - A Solidão da Casa do Regalo ACTA - A Solidão da Casa do Regalo

Tour: Portimão, Olhão, Loulé, Albufeira, Lagos, Tavira, Faro, Vila Real de Sto. António, Praia da Vitória, São Brás de Alportel

Mount Brazil (I. Terceira, Azores). Facing the bay, the house is a feast for the eyes. Except for D. Alfonzo VI, exiled and stripped of his wife and kingdom. He shares his days and nights with loneliness and with his page. Lame, sick, aged, D. Alfonzo is the mask of all desolation. And yet, he’s only 33 years old. He lives on the wire of madness and panic. He cannot distinguish light from shadow of even from darkness. He hesitates between being a child or an adult, between being virtuous or evil, between being mad or sane. The page is his closest mirror. And he is also his staff for support. He relies on him whenever he reaches the summit of madness. This is what is left of affection and the ability to live with or to exorcise his demons. So, sometimes the boundary is lost between the lucidity of the one and the madness of the other.

Press highlight

‘Again, ACTA is to be congratulated for. First, for bringing to the audience another Portuguese playwright, which is clearly a work of cultural promotion and the support of artistic creation in an area so deprived of human resources; second, because the aesthetic, artistic and technical quality of its performances, the intelligence manifested in every work, is well above average, which contributes to raise the cultural standards of the public – and this is educational and edifying; and third, for to continuing to be the company of reference in the Algarve, having the undeniable merit of stating itself as the cultural vanguard in a poor and forgotten region. A region lacking in consistent policies which will enhance the cultural quality of the life of its inhabitants - this is a civic work and of citizenship, clearly demonstrating an awareness of what it is to serve the collective, which is priceless.’
Reinaldo Barros, Postal do Algarve, 18/12/03

‘The show features the excellent performances by Luís Vicente (as Alfonzo VI) and João Rocha (as the Page). The first gives us an excellent stage work, playing a character who’s rich in physical and psychological contrasts. He amused, shocked and touched the audience, without tiring it, given that the character in question is somewhat constant. A great performance. On the other hand, the young actor João Rocha (...) gave us a magnificent young page of sixteen years old, full of conflicts deriving from an early castrated youth.’
Patricia Amaral, Postal do Algarve, 22/01/04