Portugal is not a small country is a performance that discusses European dictatorships and the European presence in Africa, by looking at the Portuguese case, the country that had the longest fascist dictatorship in Europe – 48 years, and the longest colonial Empire – nearly 500 years. It is done through the real live testimonies of ex-Portuguese settlers that were part of the refugee exodus from Africa in 1974-76.
“With this work we want to investigate real stories that have become memories and that over time have been inherited. We are interested in situations where real people contribute to challenge and rebuild cultural identities; how theatre can contribute to the rewriting of history, giving voice to a silenced group, working in that to memory transmission between generations.”
devised and performed by André Amálio
co-directed and choreographed by Tereza Havlíčková
music composed and performed by Pedro Salvador
set design by Pedro Silva
production of Hotel Europa
supported by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, EGEAC, Largo Residências, Liberdade Provisória and Teatro do Silêncio
duration 90′
Hotel Europa is a duo of artists, André Amálio and Tereza Havlíčková. The company was born in MA Performance Making at Goldsmiths University in London and is coming from two different countries – Portugal and Czech Republic and two disciplines – dance and theatre. Hotel Europa develops performance work exploring the boundaries between dance, performance art and theatre in a process of collaboration. In their processes they use autobiographical material, verbatim material, family stories, national stories creating a complex web of references to popular culture and classical, creating performances that allows the public to travel across cultures, ages and genders and construct their own meaning and narrative.