Apneia — Malvada, Associação Cultural
APNEIA integrates PLANTA, a disciplinary crossing project of reconnection to nature, in which an Epistolary Writing and a Photographic Exhibit are also presented, intertwined in a process of distributed intelligence, similar to the one found in plants.
The playwriting stems from the idea of the garden as a laboratory for the experimentation in relationships, a limited space of connection with nature and for exercising listening to others. In the scene, we deepen the bodily character intrinsic to the Japanese notion of “Ma”, privileging relational perception and vision. This is the space of coexistence and alterity which is explored, in which the limit is not a separating frontier, but a permeable line.
The scene is set as a rehearsal, in the double sense of creation and repetition. The process of extinction has long started and operates at high speed. We can slow down a little, rehearse immobility, the voluntary or involuntary suspension of breath. But human beings can only live in apnea while maintaining lucidity.
We are examples of a species in extinction. Fossils. We will never be able to tell you linearly how we ended up in this situation. The parting of the world happened without us realizing it. There wasn’t even an end to the party, and this is why we weep.
The hallucination versus the everyday or the hallucination of the everyday.
Bodies disappear into the dark, swallowed into an unknown, invisible place. In this darkness we see the glimpse of a hand, a shoulder, a naked breast. A voice. A face. The roots of suspended lives are shown.
What do we know about plants? | What do we know about ourselves?
Credits
Creation ANA LUENA and JOSÉ MIGUEL SOARES; Text, staging, scenography, and costumes ANA LUENA; Interpretation HELENA BARONET, NUNO NOLASCO and RAFAEL FERREIRA; Light design PEDRO CORREIA; Music and live interpretation ZÉ PEPS; Communication assistance JULIANA FONSECA; Production assistance BEATRIZ OURIQUE; Co-Production MUNICÍPIO DE ÉVORA, TEATRO MUNICIPAL DE BRAGANÇA, TEATRO MUNICIPAL DE VILA-REAL; Co-Production Residency O ESPAÇO DO TEMPO; Patronage GAMA UNO; Co-Financed by ALENTEJO 2020, PORTUGAL 2020, FUNDO SOCIAL EUROPEU, UNIÃO EUROPEIA, IEFP, COMPETE; Production MALVADA ARTISTIC ASSOCIATION;
PLANTA has the support of REPÚBLICA PORTUGUESA – CULTURA / DIREÇÃO-GERAL DAS ARTES
Approximate length of 70 minutes
Photographs by JOSÉ MIGUEL SOARES
About Malvada – Associação Cultural
Founded in 2018 by Ana Luena and José Miguel Soares, the duo responsible for the artistic creations and direction of this project based in Évora, Malvada bets on a peripheral territory as a center for contemporary artistic creation and reflection.
Malvada aims to carry out creative projects that cover different artistic and knowledge areas, often crossing disciplines such as photography, video, literature, music, theater and performance. It promotes artistic creation and enjoyment activities that involve the community through active participation in mediation actions, educational service, accessibility and social inclusion, fostering a close relationship between diverse audiences and the artistic work.
Networking is one of its guidelines, bringing together, in heterogeneous teams, professionals from Évora and other areas of the country, developing and presenting their creations in this and other territories, and establishing partnerships and co-productions with national institutions.
