Outra Bizarra Salada is based on a selection of texts by Karl Valentin (1882-1948) brings together the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, under the direction of conductor Cesário Costa, and is performed by the actors Bruno Nogueira and Rita Cabaço. It talks about an orchestra in artistic convulsion while trying to accompany a cultural revolution; about a conductor on the verge of a nervous breakdown and a musician who loses his music and goes from violinist to trombonist to percussionist; about the marks left by fear; about breaking patterns with humour and love.

Uma Bizarra Salada, inspired by the show E Não Se Pode Exterminá-lo? – one of the most iconic moments of the Teatro da Cornucópia of the 1970s with staging by Jorge Silva Melo – was created by Beatriz Batarda and presented at Teatro São Luiz in 2011. This show featured the participation of the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, under the direction of Maestro Cesário Costa, and the actors Bruno Nogueira and Luísa Cruz. It was the first time that we saw this orchestra participate in the scenic game as actors and musicians simultaneously, struggling with its protagonists and taking the humour of Karl Valentim and Bruno Nogueira further. This performance was as poetic and sad as it was feisty and critical, and imprinted humour and satire in the word games, in the dadaist and surrealist influences on the absurd, as well as in the musical repertoire. Now, in the aftermath of the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic and in the fervour of the society transforming movements that mark the beginning of our twenties, this musical comedy is revisited. To, more than ever, laugh at our prejudices, chase away the culture of fear and paranoia and mobilise lost affections. This time, it’s called Outra Bizarra Salada, because if times have changed, artists and performers also cook with new ingredients and spices.