It was a virtuous show!

It took us a few days to recover, but it’s time to get back on our feet and thank all the people and institutions who helped us present ‘The Virtuoso’!

 

The challenge was great and the production complex, but the two sessions were a huge success and a large part of that is down to our co-production partner, the Gil Vicente Academic Theatre.

 

The marvellous cast, which gave (new) life to a play almost 350 years old, was made up of Carolina Costa Andrade, Inês Dias, Filipe Eusébio, Hugo Inácio, Mário Montenegro, Sílvia Santos, Teosson Chau and Zé Ribeiro, with the valuable participation of five trainees from the Professional Interpreter/Actor/Actress Course at Colégio São Teotónio (Carolina Caseiro, Eduarda Ortiz, Maria Teixeira, Tiago Sousa and Vitória Oliveira) and the graceful interpretation in Portuguese Sign Language by Jéssica Ferreira and Joana Sousa.

 

The kilos of hair (and beards) were sculpted by the unbeatable Carlos Gago – Ilídio Design Cabeleireiro and the eye-catching costumes were the work of the amazing Cláudia Ribeiro, assisted by Gi Cavaggioni.

 

The triptych video featured the unique creativity of Laetitia Morais, our adventure companion for two decades, as well as Pedro Andrade, who designed the set and the beautiful poster image.

 

The lighting and technical direction was the responsibility of the skilful Simão Lopes and the original music came from the talented Marcelo dos Reis.

 

The choreographic direction, which had the ability to transport us to a 17th century ‘masquerade’, was rigorously led by Thiago Vaz (Portingaloise – Associação Cultural e Artística), and the ‘crash course’ in Latin and Greek was given by the patient Susana Marques.

 

The promotional video, graphic support and video recording were provided respectively by the discreet but indispensable Tiago Cerveira, Joana Corker, and João Cunha.

 

The props, some of them real collectors’ items, were entrusted to us by Pedro Maranha, Margarida Dias da Silva, and Sónia Cardoso (Infanta D. Maria II Secondary School), and access to the furniture was brokered by Ana Val-do-Rio and Hugo Andrade (University of Coimbra).

 

Antena 2 and Rádio Universidade de Coimbra provided us with fundamental support to publicise the event on the radio, with promotional spots and interviews.

 

The funding was part of the sustained support from the Portuguese Republic – Culture / Directorate-General for the Arts and the support for associations from Coimbra City Council. Logistical support was provided by MAFIA – Coimbra Cultural Federation, Hotel Oslo, and Lameirinho.

 

And finally, the laughter and applause were offered to us by two packed audiences, which also filled our hearts!

 

Post scriptum: Marionet cannot fail to mention its tireless team, made up of Mário Montenegro who, as well as directing and giving body to the Virtuoso, also translated and adapted Thomas Shadwell’s text; Francisca Moreira, who directed the production, also photographing the rehearsals and the show; Carolina Costa Andrade, who collaborated on communication and played not one, but two characters; Ricardo Jerónimo, who also developed the communication plan and provided technical support; Vicente Paredes, who assisted with the production and directed the sound operation; Silvia Carballo, who supported the production and created the text labyrinths on the play sheet; and Maria Neves, a trainee on FLUC’s Master’s programme in Translation, who helped with proofreading.