REVIEW: The Festival d'Avignon Presents REENCANTO By Mayra Andrade

The impulse with Avignon’s Cour d’Honneur is to go big. Since the Festival’s inception in 1947, artists have attempted to match the scale of the 30-meter wall behind them. It’s a gamble, but when it works, it’s mesmerizing. For her concert reEncanto, singer Mayra Andrade instead tamed the Cour d’Honneur into an intimate space.

In the middle of the Cour's stage, Carla Martinez Beunza’s set, featuring a lamp and table flanked by two chairs, backed by a handful of potted plants, could easily be mistaken for the stage of a banter-filled podcast. But instead, Andrade and guitarist Djodje Almeida extended the cozy arrangement outward, welcoming the audience into an evening-length journey through Andrade’s discography.

A Cape Verdean singer based in Lisbon, Andrade released her debut album Navega in 2006 and has since produced four more. Her music spans Cape Verdean Creole, French, Portuguese, and English. She hosted the evening in French, and hosted is the right word. With the same effortless charm that permeates her music, Andrade welcomed us into her world. She invited the audience to join in with rhythmic claps, call-and-response patterns, and even surreal animal cries. She also took a moment to address political concerns, including the genocide in Palestine, and gave a warm shoutout to the small but enthusiastic Cape Verdean crowd, who responded by proudly unfurling a large Cape Verde flag.

Nuno Salsinha’s lighting design moved gracefully across the set, keeping the focus on the musicians while preserving the Cour d’Honneur’s atmospheric grandeur. Costume Designer Sian E. M. Jones dressed Andrade in a soft, flowing tan gown

The Cour d’Honneur, so often a site of imposing theatrical scale, relaxed for the evening. And yet, the concert’s ease belied the ambition of Andrade’s program. Over ninety minutes, she spanned her full discography, guiding the audience with brief narrative interludes. Her music shifts between genres—R&B, Bossa Nova, reggae, jazz, and pop—with the same fluency she brings to language. Almeida kept the pulse steady, and the two artists displayed a remarkable professional intimacy.

Andrade conquered the Cour d’Honneur not with spectacle, but with serenity, offering an expansive introduction to her music and an enchanting night out.

Photo Credit: Christophe Raynaud de Lage / Festival d'Avignon

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