2014 was an important year in Portugal because it was the 40th anniversary of the end of the colonial wars in Angola and Mozambique and the end of the dictatorship of Salazar. It was also, as elsewhere in Europe, the centenary of the declaration of the First World War in 1914. The term “tropa-fandanga” signifies in Portuguese “the beggars”. The word also evokes both an army in rags (the fandanga troops) – which the revues from 1915 to 1920 ridiculed… Or the great war revue which was also part of the golden period of English music-hall (What a Lovely War by Charles Chilton) or in Germany (Hoppla, We’re Alive! by Toller). The first Portuguese revue was called “the revue of the year 1851”. It looked back over the year, in burlesque style, with caricatures of famous people and current affairs. From 1851 to the Carnation Revolution in 1974, we can follow the history and evolution of the country through songs and acts. It was a popular genre in Lisbon where the four theatres of Parque Mayer, which put on two or three shows a day, were always packed. The form stabilised very quickly and stayed the same for over a hundred years: a rigid structure with street talk, songs and comical sketches, and for the high-point of the show, a fado. In the final years of the Salazar dictatorship, the Portuguese Review was the only place in the country where you could make fun of the regime. The revues continued of course after the 25th of April. The principle was still the same but the themes had changed, like the parties in power.
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Texts | Pedro Zegre Penim, José Maria Vieira Mendes, André e. Teodósio, Cláudia Jardim, Diogo Bento, Diogo Lopes, Joana Barrios, Joana Manuel and João Duarte Costa
Direction | Pedro Zegre Penim, José Maria Vieira Mendes and André e. Teodósio
Cast | José Raposo, André e. Teodósio, Cláudia Jardim, Diogo Bento, Diogo Lopes, Filipa Cardoso, Joana Barrios, Joana Manuel and João Duarte Costa
Fado attraction | Filipa Cardoso
Corps du ballet | André Garcia, Jenny Larrue, Travis Walker and Vicente Trindade
Musicians | João Paulo Soares (piano), Vasco Sousa (acoustic bass, viola), Francisco Cardoso (drums), Ruben da Luz (trombone), Maria João Cunha (acordeon), Tiago Morna (portuguese guitar)
Set design | José Capela
Screen design | Barbara Says…, João Pedro Vale and Nuno Alexandre Ferreira, Pedro Lourenço and Vasco Araújo
Costume design | Joana Barrios with costumes from the TNDM II archives from Flávio Tomé and Cláudia Faria, Jasmim de Matos, Juan Soutullo, Octávio Clérigo and Rafaela Mapril and costumes from Marcha do Alto do Pina 2013 by Carlos Mendonça
Lighting design | Daniel Worm D´Assumpção
Sound | Sérgio Henriques
Original score | Sérgio Godinho
Orchestrations and piano | João Paulo Soares
Choreography | João dos Santos Martins
Staging assistant | Cátia Nunes
Props coordination | Susana Pomba
Production | Elisabete Fragoso, Catarina Mendes
Communication | Mafalda Carvalho
Photography | Susana Pomba
Co-production | Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, Maison de la Culture de Bobigny – MC93
Co-presentation | Teatro Municipal do Porto – Rivoli and Campo Alegre and São Luiz Teatro Municipal
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Length | 2h45
M/12