Jorge Andrade cooks a meal and shares it with the show’s audience, seated at the table. As he does so, he tries to explain who he is – what his story is.

Dining Room Tales is a project by Xan Coleman, artistic director of A is for Atlas, that has been travelling around the world. After seeing Mozambique, Xan Coleman invited Jorge Andrade to design a Portuguese edition. The play moves ostensibly away from the devices typical of theatre halls, in which there is a clear demarcation between those who watch and those who are watched; between those who speak and those who listen; between the performative event and the life ”out there”; between what is and what is not theatre. We explore that which, in this trivial setting – being around a table – leads us to a place of slow time, availability, closeness or intimacy. The “slow movement” began with food, opposing slow food to fast food; in this project, we focus on food to get closer to the idea of a “slow theatre”. Each performance is unique and unrepeatable.

Dining Room Tales is part of mala voadora’s 20th anniversary celebration program. When Jorge Andrade tells the story of his life, what he is actually doing is collating stories told in mala voadora’s plays. But, to the extent that his life is in fact intertwined with the theatre he performs, he is telling the truth.