The Theater Prague arises in Lisbon in 1995. It is a group of artists who work without a director and wish to emphasize the uniqueness of theatrical practice. Are always different, are in constant metamorphosis and subject to unpredictable variations of themselves. Due to its progressive nature always found ideological barriers in our country that were dissipating throughout its 18 years of activity and culminating with a new work that will be presented in March 2014 at the National Theater Dona Maria II, as told by one of the its founders André Teodósio.
When you created the theater Prague you mentioned were bombarded by all, but why and by whom?
André Teodósio: Initially, because we very deconstructed. Then why did dance with text, or because we did not have any sense. We were bombarded by all sides, particularly by people who had an idea of theater that did not include our activity. Gradually we created a community, either through artists, philosophers, who understood what we were doing. We were finding partners abroad, or local, who were working with us and we created an audience. When we had an audience theaters could not shut us up, then began to admit that perhaps not converging with what we were doing could be considered as a kind of theater. And today we present shows in various sites, the next will take place at the National Theatre, but it was something that took 18 years to win.
One such innovation that you brought to the theater was not having a director, why?
AT: Because it continued to belong to logic of theatrical production that had been naturalized and did not allow the accountability of all intervenient of a show, whether they are actors or directors, or artists. The theater defended an idea of art that people think the art object and not just the media that are being run thru by that. Therefore, the designer has to think of the show, as well as the actor, the writer, the illuminator, we tried none prioritize the theater, which is what we do in our lives. We are all responsible for the world we live in; we could not defend a particular thing and do another. So much so that we coordinate our artistic practice with our lives and our ideas.
But your group puts on classical and complex theater plays, requiring a certain mental gymnastics, so how you combine all that diversity of thought?
AT: Thru very long and very hard processes. We work like a ruby, take away the parts that do not matter until you get to the heart and always in favor of the object you intend to build. Earn a speech that has nothing in opposition, not everyone thought the same thing, is why we just dismiss a few things, because we have no speech against. The performances are managed in the allocation of various knowledge and ideas from various people.
When focusing in the misunderstanding in terms of your work as theater Prague, you mentioned that it was also a feeling that did not extend to the outside, was circumscribed only Portugal, why?
AT: Maybe because there wasn't a distance in terms of the language, or to the people's route. We also did shows with other directors in a more "classic" theater production. But perhaps this proximity provoke a negative response and not abroad where nobody knew us, so they accepted our story, our journey and inscribed us in a kind of artistic practice that was already quite common in these countries.
The group staged several classics, including Shakespeare, which seems a nonsense given that is as progressive theater.
AT: Because these authors had a very advance idea about the stage. Instead of animate somewhere which was the theater of that time, we took the ideas and tried to make them current. We reused these texts all with the coordinates of each and update the information as if we lived all in that same time. Shakespeare, Moliere or are not older than we they were present that day and not found, because the sun and the earth revolved many times about its axis, but it is like a single day, we are always here, never left from here.
It is a universal message?
AT: Can be universal.
Even in Portugal?
AT: For our culture yes, if it is for a simple closed one, they do not know who is Shakespeare, does not interest them, because they have their authors. For our culture is universal, because all the light we develop come from them, is a canon whose meaning is that the whole city develops the light of something that was created.
In light of today's society, you as an artist, how you see the theater at the national level?
AT: There was great progress, the theater today is richer than fifty years ago on quantity, i.e., amazing things always existed, but they were punctual, or counterculture. Nowadays because we can and we found our resources so overall we see many things in quantity. Does not mean they are all good, but that is what matters, is to have a lot of production. Doing things they want to do.
If you had founded the Prague Theater at this time, do you think there would have been the same opposition?
AT: No. Somehow we inherited some creators like Monica Calheiro and the "Single Dog" a story that was critical to their existence and that today it is more common than it was then. Today would be a lot easier for us from the beginning enroll in a particular type of theater; there are many more groups, companies and more resources to link with the rest of the world. It is much easier than 18 years ago, when there was no internet, there was nothing.
How your group sees a space as conventional as is the national theater?
AT: It's just like being in our space, we have the same kind of behavior, and the difference is we have more resources, more money, projectors and chairs in front. Our position is always the same, we will not do something we do not want to do. Obviously these sites entail constructing different show than if it is in our 60 square meters. But the expansion of Performance does not determine the content, just the manifestation of the content.
What will you show at Dona Maria II?
AT: We are doing a "revista" called "Trupe Fandanga".
It is an original?
AT: It's ours.
Why a "revista"?
AT: Because theater system in Portugal is divided into these two factions performative theater and Text Theater and the "revista" was always discarded. It seems interesting to revitalize this kind of show, which is an off theater, because it has no more space, is a theater without site. She wanted us to take this genre that was being crystallized in a style that is typically Portuguese and does not exist elsewhere, has many rules of operation that we reused somehow.
