João Branco directs ESAP theater finalists at Teatro Municipal do Porto

As part of the Artistic Schools at TNSJ 2024 project, ESAP will present on the 12th and 13th July, the show “Cuidado com as Velhinhas Carentes e Solitárias” at the Isabel Alves Costa Auditorium, Teatro Municipal do Porto, directed by João Branco.

In the plays that make up the collection Cuidado com as Velhinhas Carentes e Solitárias, Matéi Visniec – one of the most interesting contemporary playwrights – manages, with the seemingly casual tone of an everyday conversation, to address some of the most important social issues of our time that concern the human condition: the meaning of life and death, the value of things and people, the tension between the individual and society.

João Branco is an actor, director and PhD in Arts, Communication and Culture from the University of Algarve. He founded the Mindelo CCP Theater Group and founded the Mindelo International Theater Festival – Mindelact, the most important African theater event. He was Chairman of the Board of the Mindelact Association and is artistic director of the Saaraci Theater Company. 

He was awarded the Theater Merit Prize in 2010, the Lusophone Merit Theater Prize by the Luso-Brazilian Foundation for the Development of the Portuguese Language in Recife in 1996, the Micadinaia Culture Prize by the Academy of Comparative Studies of St. Vincent in 1999. He was awarded the First Class of the Volcano Medal in 2010 by the Presidency of the Republic of Cape Verde for his contribution to Cape Verdean culture, he was honored in 2017 in Rio de Janeiro by FESTLIP – International Festival of Portuguese Language Arts and in 2019 he was awarded the Commendation of Merit by the President of the Republic of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

TECHNICAL AND ARTISTIC TEAM
Original text: Matéi Visniec
Artistic direction and staging: João Branco
Assistant director and stage manager: Inês Neves
Set design and costumes: Collective
Characterization: Janaína Alves
Lighting: Hélder Sousa
Sound: Inês Neves
Image: Sara Lino Mota
Stage Photography: Hilário Barrias
Cast: Alice Guerreiro, Ana Isabel Matias, Ana Carvalho, Aurélio Bento, Duarte da Mota, Joana Fairchild, Lucía Reyes, Raquel Velaz, Rita Bettencourt Paixão,
Production: Escola Superior Artística do Porto
Duration: 1h30

Performances:
July 12th and 13th, 2024
7:30 PM
Isabel Alves Costa Auditorium
Teatro Municipal do Porto

Partners: Teatro Municipal do Porto, Teatro Nacional São João

+info: https://www.teatromunicipaldoporto.pt/pt/programa/joao-branco-2f-escola-superior-artistica-do-porto-cuidado-com-as-velhinhas-carentes-e-solitarias-de-matei-visniec/