Portuguese Theater Comes to Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival With ALMA, 9/22-25

 

Portuguese theater artists Pedro Vieira and Inês Tarouca have created a dance-based performance with text and songs in Portuguese with English translation for the special centennial celebration of America's great playwright, Tennessee Williams.  They were inspired by Williams' play Summer and Smoke and the main character's unfulfilled longing for the love of her life.

ALMA is directed by Rita Calçada Bastos, and features Bruno Simões, Joana Brandão, Inês Tarouca and Pedro Vieira.

Festival Director Jef Hall-Flavin says "We're thrilled we can celebrate the unique bond between Provincetown and Portuguese culture. It's a connection that comes full circle with Tennessee Williams' past and our Festival's annual theme." This year's theme, Double Exposure: Past and Present explores Williams' life and the simultaneous nature of memory.

During the 1940's, Tennessee Williams spent four summers in Provincetown as he was becoming discovered.  During his first summer, it was the Portuguese-speaking community who fed him for free, offered him rooms in exchange for poems, and whose fishermen befriended him. Their hospitality, guitar music and fado singing inform his imagery as do the rhythms of its lyrical language. 

Festival Curator, David Kaplan, having worked previously with Mr. Vieira, was intrigued by the idea for the piece, and invited the new production to make its world premiere at the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival. Kaplan is working with the company in Lisbon as they polish this world-premiere performance.

The Carbono Theater Company (Companhia de Teatro Carbono) was formed in 2011 to create artistic projects and creative processes centered on the actor's craft and to promote internationalization of its plays, confrontation of different cultures and creative processes, by establishing exchange and co-productions with foreign companies and artists.  ALMA is their first production.  It is supported by Portuguese Minister of Culture, DG Artes, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and International Service.

Inês Tarouca has been working professionally as a contemporary dancer since 2002, as an actress since 2008 and is the co-founder of Teatro Carbono.  In Dance she has worked with several choreographers such as Clara Andermatt and Sofia Silva. In cinema, she is the leading actress of Consequences, by Luís Ismael, and Faminto, by Hernani Duarte Maria. She worked as an assistant director in (ab)surdo, by Pedro Vieira. Inês studied acting Meisner technique with John Frey, and attended acting workshops with Marcia Haufrecht, John Mowat and Kate Hilder. In 2011 she created Portable Piece, a dance-theater performance inspired on the aging process.

Pedro Vieira has been working professionally as an actor since 2004 and is the co-founder of Teatro Carbono. In Theater he has worked with directors as Cristina Carvalhal, Ana Nave, Filomena Oliveira e Mafalda Santos. "(ab)surdo", a monologue about the Portuguese Colonial War, is his first own play, which he performed and directed. In cinema he is the leading actor of "Laudamus Vita" (2010). He has also studied acting in ESTC (National Conservatory), HB Studio, and had several workshops with Marcia Haufrecht, William Esper and David Kaplan, among others. 

 Rita Calçada Bastos graduated as an actress in 2006 at ESTC (National Conservatory). In Theatre she worked with several directors: Nuno M. Cardoso, Carla Bolito, Carlos António, Martim Pedroso, António Feio, João Brites, José Wallenstein, Álvaro Correia, Nuno Pino Custódio, Luca Apprea and the choreographer Olga Roriz. In cinema: O Crime do Padre Amaro, ?by Carlos Coelho da Silva, Felicitações Madame, by Olga Roriz, Ensaio sobre Teatro, documentary by Rui Simões. In Tv some soap operas and series: Todo o Tempo do Mundo, O Testamento, Liberdade 21, Feitiço de Amor, Morangos com Açúcar. She started as a director in 2007 with Grandes Sinais, her own creation, and 2009 was invited by the National Theater to direct a lecture. Alma is her 3rd project as a director.

Bruno Simões studied as an actor at I.F.I.C.T., 1993. Worked with several directors, such as: João Mota, Cristina Carvalhal, Alfredo Brissos, Bruno Bravo, Fernando Gomes, Francisco Salgado in plays by William Shakespeare, David Mamet, Miguel Castro Caldas, Alan Ayckbourn, Nelson Rodrigues, among others. In Tv he featured in some soap operas and series. In cinema the feature film by Francisco Manso : O Assalto ao Santa Maria.

 Joana Brandão, studied acting in ESTC (National Conservatory), has been working professionally as an actor since 1997, In Theater she has worked with directors as João Mota, João Brites, Carlos Pimenta, Rui Mendes, José Peixoto, Fernando Gomes, Helena Pimenta, Álvaro Correia, Jean-Paul Buccieri , Bruno Bravo, Lúcia Sigalho, Francisco Campos, among others. Directed Caminhos, a monologue which she wrote and performed herself, As 4 Gémeas by Copi, and co-created and acted on Super-Heróis, a dance-theater piece. In cinema she worked with Sandro Aguilar and George Felner. In Tv some soap operas and series as:  Família Mata, Voo directo, Maternidade, Morangos com Açúcar Série V , Feitiço de Amor , Liberdade 21, Pai à Força.