Vicente and pessoa, visitations

The first edition of Visitations (dedicated to Gil Vicente), the cornerstone project of our Educational Centre, came to a close last March, having proved itself a felicitous way of bringing schools and the TNSJ together. Under the guidance of their teachers and supported by an in-house artistic team, 151 students from schools in Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, Matosinhos and Chaves began last November a series of explorations of Gil Vicente’s work, which culminated with the public presentation of nine productions at the TeCA. In this second year, because the power of his creations demands it, we continue the challenge of visiting Vicente, but we widen the challenge’s scope to include another major name of Portuguese literature, Fernando Pessoa, whose heteronymic density will certainly provide an important incentive. The TNSJ defies students and teachers from primary, secondary or professional schools to create a stage project around the universes of these two writers. The project, organised by the school’s Drama Club or by a specially formed group, will have the support of a team of artists/trainers from the TNSJ.