To the pandemic, the climate crisis and the migratory crises caused by war, "we have seen artists respond, finding bravery within these traumas, through the intervention of their bodies, their poetry, their writing, but also in the evocation of something we can call spirit," said the festival's artistic director, Gonçalo Amorim, at the presentation of the 47th International Festival of Theatre of Iberian Expression (FITEI).

The 25th of April will be one of the "important mottos" of the programme, with shows marking the 50th anniversary of the Revolution, such as Luta Armada (Armed Struggle), by the Hotel Europa company, the opening show of the festival on 15 and 16 May at Teatro Campo Alegre, which portrays three periods in our history: the end of the dictatorship and the 25th of April revolution, the ongoing revolutionary process and the entry into democracy.

Also in A Nossa Última Manhã Aqui (Our Last Morning Here), Manuel Tur evokes his own past as the grandson of returnees. "I'm the grandson of returnees. And I'm the grandson of the Carnation Revolution - even though it was never talked about at my grandparents' house," we read in the introductory text. "Manuel Tur is asking us to go back to his family past. It is a story that he is interested in and that is part of what the writer Eduardo Lourenço called 'Nosso Impensado' (Our Unthought), [referring to the 500 years of Portuguese colonialism]," recalls Amorim.

"It's one of those themes to which we return with tremendous difficulty; it's not just the question of the war, but also the return of the population [who lived in the colonies] and which was one of the biggest migration movements during the 20th century from one continent to the other," says the artistic director, adding that this theme could be the subject of "countless theatre shows that are still taking time to emerge". Our Last Morning Here has its premiere at the Campo Alegre Theatre, where it will be on 24 and 25 May.

Stabat Mater: Janaina Leite, her mum and the violence on stage

On 16 and 17 May, at the Rivoli Grand Auditorium, there will be a national premiere of Stabat Mater, by Janaina Leite, and "the reconstruction of the story" of the Virgin Mary. "It's the arrival in of one of the most remarkable shows in the Ibero-American universe in recent years," says Gonçalo Amorim. This show had been scheduled for the 2020 edition, but the pandemic forced it to stay only at FITEI Digital.

Stabat Mater stems from Janaina's research into "the use of violence in art, the use of violence against women, and the way women are torn, crushed, beaten, trampled underfoot". To do this, the artist uses "a retelling" of the story of the Virgin Mary. On stage, the actress will be with her own mother and with the figure of Priapus, "in this case played by a porn actor".

On the same dates, 16 and 17 May, at Sala Estúdio of Teatro Campo Alegre, you can enjoy O Navio Knight (The Knight Ship), based on the text of the same name by Marguerite Duras, and performed by the Viseu company Ardemente, which was in residence at the 2023 edition of FITEI.

"Every night in Paris, hundreds of people anonymously use telephone lines that date back to the German occupation and are no longer registered, so that they can talk and love. These people are dying to love and escape the abyss of loneliness," says the introductory text.

Also on the same dates, the audience will be able to see Manuela Rey is in the House at the São João National Theatre (TNSJ), directed by Fran Núñez, who, according to Amorim, has done "a very commendable job" at the Galician Drama Centre. It s a co-production of Teatro do Noroeste - Centro Dramático de Viana, TNSJ and D. Maria II Theatre. The show recovers the story of Manuela Rey, " an actress from the 19th century, who left her village in Galicia at a very young age, with a group of street artists, and ended up in Lisbon, at the age of 13, becoming one of the first actresses in the resident cast of the D. Maria Theatre".

"Her presence in Lisbon was so remarkable, not only because of her talent as an actress, but also because she was a poet and a union leader," and she even started many uprisings. FITEI's director therefore considers that Fran Núñez's recovery of the story of this actress is "moving". "We know how female figures are somehow obliterated from history or replaced by male names, so this gesture, by the Galician Drama Centre, honouring one of its most important actresses, is to be applauded."

On the 16th, at CRL - Central Elétrica, the visual performance Trajetória, by Teatro do Frio, will be premiered. It's the result of the collection of sounds and images made by Rodrigo Malvar (sound designer and performer) and Gonçalo Mota (filmmaker and anthropologist) while travelling by bicycle through various territories - Gaia, Porto, Matosinhos and Viana do Castelo - as part of the Gyrovagus project. According to Gonçalo Amorim, it's a show "centred on the human, on the testimonies of men and women, on collecting the stories of communities".

EThis show will also be screened at Viana do Castelo and Matosinhos, the city that will host María Isabel by the young Chilean Ana Luz Ormazával on the same days. Amorim praises her "constant and very mature" artistic production, noting, however, that she had not yet internationalised, which is happening now with her presence at the festival. "It's very important for there to be a renewal of the Ibero-American artistic community, and FITEI takes care of this, paying attention to the new generations," he emphasised.

On the 18th and 19th, Café Teatro at Teatro Campo Alegre will host the premiere of Matagal, with artistic direction by Eduardo Breda and set design by Pedro Tudela. It's a show that uses Portuguese Sign Language "as a starting point for movement" and where various media - dance, theatre and cinema - come together. Amorim says that the show "comes from the plasticity of bodies and spaces, and that, in a way, it invites you to travel within a sensory universe".

On the same dates, the 18th and 19th, at Teatro Carlos Alberto, there's Amédée or How to Disentangle Yourself, a new translation by Joaquim Pena and Tiago da Câmara Pereira of Eugéne Ionesco's text, directed by Ivo Alexandre. "It's a show that portrays phantasmagorias," stresses FITEI's artistic director, because "everyone is around a dead person and, at a certain point, they realise that, after all, the dead person is alive." "It's Ionesco's good style, a very absurd theatre, a classic contemporary theatre," he says.

FITEI returns to Porto Coliseum

A new feature of this edition is the return of FITEI to the stage of the Coliseu Porto Ageas. On 18 May, at 9pm, the city's largest theatre will host a single screening of Irmã Palestina (Sister Palestina), the beginning of the tetralogy based on Xerazade's One Thousand and One Nights, which Teatro O Bando is developing to celebrate its 50th anniversary. This is a co-creation with Companhia Olga Roriz, in partnership with the Portuguese Symphonic Band, which brings together theatre, dance and music. "Every season of this tetralogy, Xerazade receives a guest, and this time it's Sister Palestina," says Amorim. Sister Palestine will be played by Maria Dally, a Palestinian dancer.

On the other riverbank, at the Gaia Municipal Auditorium, Sofia Santos Silva from Porto presents Another Rose. The creator developed a work based on reports of domestic violence and "contacted an activist group of Indian women who are intervening in their territories against male chauvinist violence and gender violence, and are intervening in an armed way", and sought to turn the show into a platform at the service of this group's mission. "It's a show that, although very strong, also has music and a very powerful plastic context," she says.

On 19 May, at 7pm, at Rivoli, there's What Plato Said to Ariana Grande #3, a podcast-show by Mafalda Banquart and Emmanuel Santos, whose episodes can be enjoyed at the theatre or on headphones. "It's a show recorded live, which combines interviews, dance and music with moments of performance, and has a very special scenic element; and FITEI decided to commission another episode of this podcast," explains Gonçalo Amorim.

On the 21st, also at Rivoli, Alberto Cortés presents One Night at the Golden Bar. Cortés is a malaganho artist "who comes from dance, although his proposals are always a great intersection between dance, words and music". "It's an almost baroque show, a kind of sung spoken word, in which Cortés develops a script, or a libretto, about what it's like to be a young homosexual in Malaga during the 1990s," says FITEI's artistic director.

On the 21st and 22nd, mala voadora will host No Hay Banda, by Martín Flores Cardenas, a show that "says a lot about the quality of Argentine playwrights", argues Amorim, adding that over the years "FITEI has fortunately managed to present excellent Argentine playwrights".

Martín will be on stage alone, doing a monologue to "reflect on the very origin of theatre creation, on the origin of the creation of the text". "It's a kind of dramaturgical mise en abyme about a play that never existed," says the artistic director, adding that in this story an Argentinian playwright and director is invited to present his next play at a festival in Brazil, but in fact the play doesn't exist.

On 23 and 24 May, Teatro Constantino Nery, at Matosinhos, will host the world premiere of a show which is related to the 25th of April celebrations. Dona Pura e os Camaradas de Abril is an original text written by Germano de Almeida, directed by João Branco, produced by SAARACI - Coletivo Teatral and with original music by Mário Lúcio. "We expect it to be a huge celebration of the revolution and of the African liberation struggles," says Gonçalo.

A Possibilidade da Ternura  (The Possibility of Tenderness)

On the 23rd, in a single session at the Rivoli, La Re-Sentida, "one of the most recognised Chilean companies", presents the show The Possibility of Tenderness, directed by Marco Layera and Carolina de la Maza. A performance story that shares the experiences and testimonies of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17, and it is the result of workshops, an audition and a collective creation process with these teenagers. Seven young people will be on stage collectively expressing their feelings.

"Marco Layera has been doing some research into adolescence; this group of Chilean teenagers is coming to Portugal with a beautifully iconoclastic show, with the message that there is a possibility for men to be tender, to talk about their emotions," says Gonçalo Amorim.

Theatre for everyone: Free workshops and activities

In addition to an extensive lineup of shows, the festival is once again committed to the This is Not a FITEI School programme, which consists of a series of free workshops (registration required), as well as Open FITEI, which promotes encounters between festival audiences, artists and audiences from other areas beyond the theatre, in an uncompromising and plural way.

Guindalense FC will host the opening and closing parties of festivaI; the opening party takes place on Saturday 18 May, starting at 9pm, with DJ Ponto de Cruz and DJ Ideal, and the closing party is scheduled for 25 May and will be brightened up by the DJ set of Instituto Fonográfico Tropical and by Jhon Douglas, a "slipper artist".

There's also the Open FITEI, which includes the musical programme developed in partnership with Paulo Vinhas and Matéria Prima, and which is called "Appearances". It's about "unexpected and sometimes improvised actions that bring together music or spoken word and performance" and take place in the streets.

This year's festival also includes the participation of Ensemble LIBECCIU, a polyphony group, and the Orquestra Urbana da Trofa. In addition to these activities, there is the dramaturgical proposal Abertura de Processo de 88 Coisos de um Minuto, by Argentinian Rubén Sabbadini, who lives in Portugal, and a round table with Agostina Luz López and Martín Flores Cardenas on Argentinian dramaturgy.