In his film The Girl Chewing Gum, John Smith superimposes images captured on a London street with a voice that seems to give instructions for what is happening. The movement of the street seems to be predetermined by the artist. He tells people to cross the road, cars to pass, or birds to fly. This film is the opposite of fake stories and fake news: while the latter try to pass off fiction as reality, the film tries to pass off reality as fiction. We are going to recreate Smith's experience using images from 25 April 1974, as if the revolution were an artist's staging. Besides revealing the facts that ensured the establishment of a democratic regime in Portugal, this show highlights the mechanisms of fictional construction and, in particular, the construction of manipulated realities. The superimposition of the voice of command on a reality that has already happened creates a situation that is also conducive to the de-banalisation of the images themselves. We want the images of 25 April 1974 to remain intense. Joaquim Furtado, RTP's director-coordinator of information and programming for several years, will be the project's consultant. His career as an author of documentary series has taken on a dimension that makes Furtado a historian of the Portuguese 20th century. And he was the announcer who, in the early hours of 25 April 1974, read the first communiqué of the Armed Forces Movement on Rádio Clube Português.

The performances will have Portuguese sign language translation.

26/04/2024, 11.00 and 15.00 + talk – Session for schools. Bookings
27/04/2024, 16.00 and 18.00 
Where: Sala dos Geradores
Target: Schools (+12); Yound poeple and adults 
Capacity: 100 people
Language: Portuguese
Prices: 15€/person (general public) | 25% discount for MAAT members
             3€/student (Schools)

mala voadora

A mala voadora is a cultural organisation whose work straddles the arts and reflective thought. Its origins lie in the conception of theatre performances, but gradually its activity has come to include the work of other artists, the organisation of meetings and training activities, audiences with limited access to artistic practices, the testing of post-disciplinary production nexuses, books, dinners, and parties, among others. It programmes two facilities of its own: one in Porto and the other in a rural setting in the municipality of Santiago do Cacém. Depending on the guests and projects in question, their shows vary and tend to approach cinema, concerts, rallies, comic strips, documentaries, or dances. A mala voadora was founded and is directed by Jorge Andrade - actor, director, playwright, and programmer - and José Capela - architect, set designer, lecturer at the School of Architecture, Art and Design at the University of Minho, and researcher at Lab2PT.

Technical Sheet 

Directed by Jorge Andrade. Written by Jorge Andrade. Consultancy  Joaquim Furtado with José Neves Video editing João Gambino. Soundtrack Sérgio Selgado. Set and costumes  José Capela Lighting  João Fonte Technical director João Fonte Production team  Joana Mesquita Alves, Sofia Freitas, and Inês Soares Lopes

Co-produced by MAAT, D. Maria II National Theatre, and Escher Theatre (Luxembourg).
A mala voadora is a structure funded by the Government of Portugal - Ministry of Culture/Directorate-General for the Arts.