The private collection of Acácio Nobre
A vintage typewriter and a wireless keyboard perform a concert while developing a dialogue around the archives of Acácio Nobre,a Portuguese man of reference (silenced by the dictatorship and eliminated from the records of History), promoting the avant-garde in art and industry through his geometric puzzles and revolutionary theories.. A performance etched in the solitude and intimacy of the author and his or her unfinished work.
Patricia Portela brings together the texts and models found in a forgotten chest in her grandmother’s cellar and follows clues to new and valuable documents lost in personal files and friends’ houses. Portela rebuilds some of Acacio Nobres political ideas, as well as his ambitious scientific and artistic projects, with the ultimate aim of reviving his work in a way that will question the collective memory of a country that, had it decided to give this man the immortality he deserved, would have been a different place.
Press
“On stage we witness a dialogue between Patricia Portela and André Teodósio – or rather between a typewriter and a computer. And it is this dialogue between eras, between different ways of being and thinking that is presented on stage. ”
Maria João Caetano in Diário de Notícias, 10/09/10
“Patricia’s words are as torrential as those of the play that can be seen in the house of the Maria Matos Theatre. And I say house because, little by little, the performance (i.e., the inside of Acácio Nobre’s head) comes sprawling into the entire space, enveloping the audience in a tornado of light (letters that are projected on to the audience), sound (the typewriter, to a greater or lesser degree), and even smells. ”
Alexandra Prado Coelho in Público 10/09/10
“Nobre is the embodiment and synthesis of many of the ideas and technological changes of the late 19th and early 20th century. And Portela presents them in a surprising way. (…) Like an open door, the tables (on stage), resemble grand pianos with elegant steel benches that seem to float in space. Portela, and her fellow performer Andre Teodósio appear, as if they were two concert pianists.
“As spectators we have to follow each moment carefully to avoid missing a thing and curiously it is this effort that produces a striking evocation of a revolutionary era, as if it were the demonstration of the fascination we still feel when we look back at these times.
“A beautiful concert of ideas.”
Pieter T’Jonk in De Morgen 17/02/11
Credits
Text and images Patrícia Portela
Typewriter and sound installation Christoph de Boeck
Special effects and image post-production Irmã Lúcia efeitos especiais
Electronic design Fabrice Moinet
Performers: André e. Teodósio and Patrícia Portela
Light design Daniel Worm d’Assumpção
Acácio Nobre’s jewel Alda Salavisa
Acácio Nobre’s tables João Gonçalves
Table and benches manufacturer Lionel&Bicho
Dressmaker D. Maria Luisa
Text editing Isabel Garcez
video&trailer Rui Ribeiro | Les Filmes de Merdre
Production management and executive production Helena Serra and Pedro Pires
Duration 70’