Teatro São João

The Lady of the Camelias

by Alexandre Dumas, fils

directed by Miguel Loureiro

The Lady of the Camelias

Description

From humble beginnings, she rose to the condition of a sophisticated and desired courtesan, a recklessly extravagant, art-loving demi-mondaine mined by tuberculosis, a sickness the 1800s traditionally saw, with morbid tenderness, as exclusive to truly pure girls. Marguerite Gautier is the heart of The Lady of the Camelias, which Alexandre Dumas fils had originally written as a novel and later, in 1852, adapted to the stage. This text is a pinnacle of unwholesome late Romantic imagination, and thus highly interesting to Miguel Loureiro, a scenic creator who enjoys giving new venues to ghosts and hauntings from the past. His The Dama das Camélias is close to another one of his recent productions: Paris – Sarah – Lisboa (2017), “a fabulous reverie” about the actress Sarah Bernhardt, whose greatest roles include Phaedra, Hamlet and… Marguerite Gautier. Instead of chasing modernity’s every whim, this actor and director is more interested in exploring mysteries and enigmas. Confronted with such a sphinx-like character, Miguel Loureiro cannot keep himself from throwing more and more question marks her way. “Which excesses in Marguerite Gautier can still be of use to ourselves? The clear enunciation of an unfathomable state of mind? A brief philosophical essay on the vertigo of beauty? A paean to love’s decay? The eroticisation of the theatre by Romantic smoothness?”

Credits

by Alexandre Dumas, filho translated by João Paulo Esteves da Silva directed by Miguel Loureiro

set design André Guedes costumes Catarina Graça dances Miguel Pereira lighting design Daniel Worm d’Assumpção direction assistance Leonor Buescu

production Nuno Pratas/Culturproject

with the support of Manuel Poças and Vítor Alves Brotas/Agência 25

cast Álvaro Correia, António Durães, Carla Bolito, Carla Maciel, Gonçalo Waddington, Leonor Buescu, Miguel Mateus, Miguel Sopas, Rita Rocha, Sonja Valentina

co-produced by São Luiz Teatro Municipal, Gonçalo Waddington & Carla Maciel, Lda., TNSJ support Museu dos Coches, Museu de Lisboa, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos

opening 6Set/Sep2019 São Luiz Teatro Municipal (Lisbon) playing time 2:45 Ages 12 and up

Sessions

Teatro São João

Praça da Batalha 112, 4000-101 Porto, Portugal · Google Maps · Apple Maps · OpenStreetMap
· qui · 21:00
· sex · 21:00Post-show talk
· sáb · 19:00
· dom · 16:00Portuguese Sign Language