terça-feira, 25 de outubro de 2011

« HORROR » returns November 24th



HORROR or brief study on paralysis, a show produced by Colectivo 84 and created by John Romão, débuted at the National Theatre in Lisbon in June 2011.


It goes on to open in Coimbra, November 24th, at the Teatro Académico de Gil Vicente (http://www.tagv.info/) .


Come see!


Youtube preview 

domingo, 23 de outubro de 2011

Hooray for Autumn

After the indian summer, I guess it's time for autumn.

I love me some rainy days. In my head, it's time for blankets in the couch, movies on tv, baking shit... staying in and being homey.

Apparently, I might just stand alone on this one.

Literally.


Ah, os sábados à noite...

Sim, hoje foi sábado à noite.

Sábadànoite, leia-se.

E foi bommmmm..... podia ter sido melhor, mas foi bom na mesma....





Eu não estou a falar de sexo.

terça-feira, 18 de outubro de 2011

One step into the Otherside

I'll give it some time.

It's funny how sometimes you crave to be on the "otherside" and once you set foot there or even get a glimpse of it, you realize that it wasn't exactly what you were looking for or where you needed to be. In this case, I was given a tiny flash and got scared. It isn't for me, not just now.

Relationships are hard. When one isn't in one, one perceives relationships to be about companionship and utter happiness, loving and being loved in return. You forget or fail to realize that it is a lot like working. You have compromises to make, promises to keep, expectations to maintain. If there are feelings involved, you have a responsability, you can't quit, you can't leave.

And then, of course, comes the conflict between what you want and what you have and, hopefully, the bridge covering the gap between the two is very small. If it isn't... well... at the end of the day, the only real commitment we have is to ourselves and we can only do (and should only do) so much to accomodate others.

I'll give it some time.

quinta-feira, 13 de outubro de 2011

To produce or not to produce?

In the 80's there was a big debate on what the author's place in theatre was. No one knew where the boundaries were drawn and whether the author should be praised as a central piece of the final product, the show itself, or just as a provider of the raw material that would later be transformed into...art.

Nowadays, that debate has been settled, in the sense that playwrights (or dramatists, for those that feel «playwright» is too shakespearean...) have gained the respect which is due. The show might be about a lot more than the just the uttered words (especially in contemporary theatre), but these remain a central piece of the play. 

However, writers must deal with the still almighty presence of the director. It was so in the 80's and it still is now. The director represents the ultimate will, that to which all must bow. The director is at the top, unless he has to obey another entity called «money» (theatre administrators, programmers, etc...). But, if given freedom in his work, the director's authority is unchallenged. 

This, I admit, really pisses me off. 

Even though I agree that there must be a central figure, someone who can coordinate, I hate the idea of a group of people following one person's whims and desires. And many directors are that kind of person... Besides, I feel that leadership always gets better results when distributed by more than one individual.

But this brings us to another question that has been coming up more and more: what, then, is the role of the producer?

If you look it up online, a theatre producer can be many things. It's hard to answer that question. He can take care of paperwork, he can take care of logistics, he can be in charge of selling plays and building tours, etc... Sometimes, he's in charge of all these things and then some. You have the creative side and the more practical side, usually done by producers and execs.

Lately, a new position has been surfacing, called the "creative producer", someone who is in charge of practical aspects but is also considered when it comes to making artistic decisions. This, I feel, is a welcome breath of fresh air in the industry as it gets rid of old restraints that don't make sense anymore. 

If aesthetics change with time, if now we are beyond modernism and entering altermodernism, maybe other things must change too, in particular, the way we perceive work methodologies.

domingo, 9 de outubro de 2011

The times, they are a-changing

It's weird to slowly discover the disadvantages of growing older. Why? Because you start understanding some of the codes that "older" people use and you realize that you were wrong and they were right. Things really are different when you leave adolescent thoughts, ideas and ideals behind.

One of the bad things is the metamorphosis that relationships go through. You want to keep them, you want to make an effort and, at the same time, the gap grows wider and wider. And the funny thing is you might feel sad because of it and still be guilty of doing the same thing., Maybe we are all noticing the differences but we find ourselves helpless before that situation. Perhaps we're not all supposed to be a happy family forever. Maybe "survival of the fittest" applies, after all.

I find myself feeling endangered in other people's lives. Sucks...

sábado, 8 de outubro de 2011

French-Canadian

My french is AWESOME!
Or not really. Time goes by and I realize that knowledge slips away unless you really hold on to it. Ten years ago I would speak and write French with such ease. Now, I make google translator my best friend.
*Sigh*