Ardente - Memorial para Pedro e Inês de Portugal
58th Production
Premiere: 01/10/2011

ACTA - Ardente - Memorial para Pedro e Inês de Portugal ACTA - Ardente - Memorial para Pedro e Inês de Portugal ACTA - Ardente - Memorial para Pedro e Inês de Portugal ACTA - Ardente - Memorial para Pedro e Inês de Portugal ACTA - Ardente - Memorial para Pedro e Inês de Portugal ACTA - Ardente - Memorial para Pedro e Inês de Portugal ACTA - Ardente - Memorial para Pedro e Inês de Portugal

Tour: Faro, Lublin (Polónia), Opole (Polónia), Lagos, Albufeira, Lagoa, Portimão, Loulé, Tavira

The tragedy of Pedro and Inês is among the most referred to subjects by arts and literature in the entire world. It seems it is actually the third most referred to subject – after Jesus Christ, the first, and Napoleon, the second. An undisputed fact is that this subject is in a place of great importance and extraordinary curiosity, not only historic but also mythical, philosophical, artistic…
ACTA addresses once again this subject in a triple perspective: first, the narrative does not follow the chronological history of events – our story begins with Pedro and Inês in their tombs; second, the story will be told resorting only to image and music – therefore, without resorting to the spoken word; third, to direct this show, we invited one of the most prominent European stage directors, specialized in this genre of theatre, Leszek Madzik, from Poland.

Madzik’s theatre is without words. The reason for this is his profound belief that there are spheres of the human reality that do not succumb to the spoken word. In his “cosmic” theatre, he rehabilitates buried archetypes, giving the spectator a renewed opportunity for a pre-rational perception of the world. The fragile dreamlike universe of his shows is created with shadows and movements in an elaborate way, subdued to the rhythm of the music. The spectator is “alone among the crowd”, because he is separated, by the darkness, from the other spectators, and also from the stage. With his own imagination, he wanders through different dimensions of a reality apprehended by the power of Good and Evil.

Press highlight

A poetry of light and mask (masque)
Movement of such determined intensity
Is this the "cosmic" theatre of Leszek Madzek or the "cosmic" theatre of our dreams?
Our eyes cannot leave the stage and yet there is no stage but a strange world of sound and motion antediluvian in aspect
Tears of joy
Love revealed
We tremble in our seats, attempt to awaken from this dream but the actors hypnotize us, mesmerize us
Slowly, a story is revealed, one we have dreamt before in the flames of our unconscious
The music pulses in our veins a shrieking voice demands recognition
Finally
Finally we collapse in our seats
Speechless
Lights come on
We leave the theatre but the theatre has not left us
A black shrouded bent female figure approaches reaching out a terribly deformed hand pleading with eyes hardly visible under twisted and suffering skin to ask for Mercy and money
Bravo
Congratulations
to Luis Vicente, the Actors, the Musicians, the Technical Crew of ACTA for an extraordinary event
One which everyone should experience!
sent with love on the fourth day of october 2011
by
white oak man aka john gruntfest

Ardente moved me deeply. I had thought theater was dead and now I am heartened that it is still alive. The best theater I´ve seen in 40 years. Movement the speed of crumbling stone. The darkness is seductive. Slow the breath. Relax the eyes. The coolness of stone. Deep sorrow and deep beauty. Painterly images pressing the audience to internal engagement. Breath of stone. Living Cromeleques. Bravo to the directors, actors and actresses, lighting designer and technician, and the musicians.
Thank you so much for your work.
Megan Bierman
Multidisciplinary artist and arts educator of young children at Buen Dia Family School

Project funded by Programa Operacional ALGARVE21