The project is based on Ingmar Bergman’s book, “Fanny and Alexander.” It is the author’s most emblematic and greatest work. Initially conceived for television in episodes, it was later converted into a film, in a reduced and fragmented version, and finally transformed into a literary work. If Bergman was inspired by an illustration from E. T. A. Hoffman’s short story, “The Nutcracker” (which would later give rise to Tchaikovsky’s work “The Nutcracker”) and by Dickens’ work, this proposal is inspired by Pirandello’s play “Improvise Tonight.” In 2009, at Cais Sodré, we used this play as a starting point to develop the concept of a workshop-performance (many of the performers who continue to be regular collaborators at Casa Conveniente began their careers with this work). In 2015, when we moved to Zona J, we developed another project, based on Pirandello and the concept of the workshop-performance, to create relationships and question our presence in this new territory.
This text allows us to work between interior and exterior space. Between the private and the public. The relationship with reality. There is a need to build it in stages and according to each place, from which the context of presentation is constructed. Registering and relating to the places where it is developed and the characteristics of the participants.
Just as the action in “Fanny and Alexander” takes place in various spaces over a year and a half, our proposal will seek out various places of work and presentation, circulating through the narrative and the territory, over time. We have always worked with this format of show in small and/or unconventional venues, with limited aesthetic and financial resources, but with the priority of establishing a connection with the places where we have been.
The project consists of a core cast (Mónica Calle, Mónica Garnel, José Miguel Vitorino, José Pimentão, João Cravo Cardoso, and Inês Vaz), who will undertake an initial season of research and preparation.
After that, the goal is to develop a constantly evolving creation that is also based on training. Seven four-day work modules per week, in the form of a workshop-performance (on the last two days of the workshop, we will present the results of our work to the public).
The workshop is aimed at actors, dancers, musicians, and the general public of all ages. The number of participants is 10 people. It takes place from March 11 to 14, between 3:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and between 8:30 p.m. and midnight.
Esta noite improvisa-se com Bergman ‧ Mónica Calle ‧ workshop-show ‧
Free registration via email at malavoadora@malavoadora.pt and mncalle66@gmail.com