Um Museu Vivo de Memórias Pequenas e Esquecidas is a documentary piece on the official-unofficial reports of the Portuguese dictatorship (1926-1974) and Revolution (1974-75).
Through a long and exhaustive process of investigation and collection of evidence, Joana Craveiro -Art Director of Teatro do Vestido- builds a four-and-a-half-hour marathon of history, memory, relationships between problematic and conflicting recollections, and the absence of political states of memory in Portugal’s recent history.
Built as a set of seven lectures-performances, all written and delivered by Joana Craveiro, Um Museu Vivo de Memórias Pequenas e Esquecidas revisits the recent history of Portugal from a historical, political and emotional perspective, based on testimonies of ordinary people, challenging the grand narratives of such periods which were mainly built on military and political ideas.
Winner of the 2015 Festival de Almada award, this piece asks many questions: What happens when we decide to remember at a time when the powers that be insist that we forget? What happens when we let ourselves be affected by our parents’ and grandparents’ history and silence? Wherever a story remains untold, drama can but start by investigating the story and putting the cards on the table.
©João Tuna
Cast:
Research, text, direction and performance: Joana Craveiro | Creative collaboration and assistance: Rosinda Costa and Tânia Guerreiro | Costumes: Ainhoa Vidal | Lighting design: João Cachulo | Production: Cláudia Teixeira | Production assistant: Igor de Brito.
Premiere
November 2014, Lisbon.
Premiere in Spain at the Festival Escenas do Cambio 2016