+
Events News Press
XVI Lisbon
Public Event 08 - 16 June, 2024

BLOOMING

Arena Ensemble
Personal Narrative (inter-generational) theatre performance • Intergenerational matters. Europe’s ageing population: a crisis or an opportunity?

Public access

Open

Tickets

Available in advance
Prices from €0 to €12

Venue

São Luiz Teatro Municipal
Rua António Maria Cardoso, 38
1200-027 Lisboa,
Portugal

Date & Time

08 – 16 June, 2024

More info

São Luiz Teatro Municipal

Following an invitation to join the ULYSSES European Odyssey project, Marco Martins presented a play based on this work by Joyce, inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, in which the common, everyday life and the thoughts that continually fill the human mind were celebrated, from what happens in 24 hours to an everyday hero.

Marco Martins is a theatre and cinema director with a long career and experience of working with specific communities of non-actors, who has been interested in extensive creative processes in which he starts from life experiences and individual stories to arrive at artistic objects in which these stories become everyone’s, echoing through an outcome beyond the sum of the parts.

The old/new binomial, of enormous importance in each person’s life, appeals to basic issues such as ancestry, transformation, support, appreciation and wisdom, which, although often invisible or overlooked, are increasingly present. The possibility of viewing population aging as a crisis or an opportunity is closely linked to the question of memory and what is important to preserve or invent.
The chapter assigned to Lisbon took place in a shelter, so Marco Martins returned to work with a non-professional cast to create a play that was based on the circumstances and experiences of a group of young people who live in foster homes, far from their families. The author proposeed a reinterpretation of the work of Ulysses in which Bloom’s return home and his 24-hour odyssey through the streets of Dublin take on a new dimension.

BLOOMING

by MARCO MARTINS

Creation and staging MARCO MARTINS

from ULYSSES, by JAMES JOYCE

with ROBERT ELLIOT and a group of young people

Original music MIGUEL ABRAS

Workshops LIAM BROWN, MARCO DA SILVA FERREIRA, MARTA COUTINHO and SEAN DORAN

Light design NUNO MEIRA

Sound design and operation VÍTOR SANTOS

Director’s assistant and support for dramaturgy RITA QUELHAS

Movement assistant NÁDIA FABRICI

Administration MARTA DELGADO MARTINS

Executive Production FLÁVIO CATELLI

Project coordination and Production Management MARIANA BRANDÃO

Artistic residencies ANDRÉ CEPEDA and ISABEL CORDOVIL

Text publication GONÇALO M. TAVARES

Co-production ULYSSES, EUROPEAN ODYSSEY-CREATIVE EUROPE, S.LUIZ TEATRO MUNICIPAL, THÉ TRE DE LIÈGE – PROSPERO EXTENDED THEATRE, AUDITÓRIO MUNICIPAL AUGUSTO CABRITA/C MARA MUNICIPAL DO BARREIRO and ARENA ENSEMBLE

Collaboration ESCOLA PROFISSIONAL BENTO DE JESUS ​​CARAÇA and INSTITUTO DOS FERROVIÁRIOS – Barreiro

Support CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION and GENERAL DIRECTORATE FOR THE  ARTS

Trailer video

Event Photos

Photos @ Estelle Valente-SLTM

Audience feedback

‘Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing the show Blooming. I would like, if possible, for all the participants and those involved in this beautiful show to convey my thanks and congratulations for what they built and shared with the public.

Thank you, thank you.

A hug.’