The ease with which Patricia Portela produces imaginary is totally mind-blowing. She look us in the face and asks questions. Many questions. Forces us to think. But if we can’t keep up with the speed of her ongoing mind, she won’t be offended. We’re amazed, then. We stay. We don’t know the answer. Neither does she. We laugh because she is still producing, drawing schematics of her own, confusing us. We don’t know what else to do. We’ll be like Alice’s rabbit: “Hello, goodbye, it’s late.” And what about her? She takes our hand. We fall. Through the big hole. Down. Behind. Her.
In 2016, Sara Carinhas organised the Ciclo de Leituras Encenadas in the old Jardim de Inverno, where excerpts of works by Herberto Hélder, José Tolentino Mendonça, Luísa Costa Gomes, Maria Velho da Costa and Matilde Campilho were heard. Once a month, in the late afternoon, interpreters and the public shared Portuguese words in different voices. Four years later, the Sala Bernardo Sassetti receives Um Quarto que Seja Delas – Segundo Ciclo de Leituras Encenadas, with five sessions taking place between September 2020 and January 2021. A proposal comprising more than twenty women, among authors, actresses and artistic team. “We continue with the intent of sharing the literature and the theatre of the small gestures that words demand”, says Sara Carinhas.
