Fado Alexandrino

by António Lobo Antunes | Publicações Dom Quixote

dramaturgy, adaptation and direction Nuno Cardoso

Subtitling

in english

“What came out of this Fado in twelve stanzas, which are music as well as fate, was ourselves.” We return to this composite portrait – a blend of António Lobo Antunes’ words and Nuno Cardoso’s stagecraft – in the wake of its premiere in April 2024, commemorating the Carnation Revolution’s 50th anniversary. We return to the Last Supper (as well as to the Bar Club Madrid and the morning after) of five soldiers, ten years after their return from the Colonial War. On the folds of the various times that swallow them up, the private story of a country can be read. It is “an uncompromising portrayal, a photo-booth picture”, as Dinis Machado described it in 1983, the year when Fado Alexandrino was first published. He called it “Felliniesque”, an adjective that accurately conveys the excess, grotesquerie, loneliness and lyricism embodied and voiced by a cast in constant interaction. “What a wild day, it’s too bad I learned to enjoy life so late.”

Credits

by António Lobo Antunes | Publicações Dom Quixote dramaturgy, adaptation and direction Nuno Cardoso adaptation and dramaturgy support Fernando Villas-Boas, Florian Hirsch set design F. Ribeiro lighting design Nuno Meira sound design and effects Joel Azevedo music Pedro “Peixe” Cardoso costumes Nelson Vieira video Luís Porto movement Roldy Harrys direction assistance Pedro Nunes, Nuno Pacheco costumes assistance Nádia Mattos cast Ana Brandão, Joana Carvalho, Jorge Mota, Lisa Reis, Nuno Nunes, Patrícia Queirós, Paulo Freixinho, Pedro Almendra, Pedro Frias, Roldy Harrys, Sérgio Sá Cunha, Telma Cardoso produced by Teatro Nacional São João co-produced by Centro Cultural de Belém, Teatro Circo de Braga, Teatro Aveirense, Teatro das Figuras, Théâtre National du Luxembourg opening 5 Apr 2024 Teatro São João (Porto)