Almada Theatre Festival'23

The Almada Festival celebrates its 40th edition with some of the most distinguished national and international creators and companies.

Twenty theater, dance and new circus shows (eight Portuguese, twelve foreign) will be presented on nine stages in Almada (Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite, Escola D. António da Costa, Fórum Romeu Correia, Incrível Almadense, Academia Almadense) and Lisbon (Centro Cultural de Belém).

The 2023 program features creations directed by some well-known directors of the Festival, such as the German Peter Stein, or the English Declan Donnellan, who address two basic texts of universal dramaturgy. Also back is Berlin's Schaubühne, this time with a staging by the Swiss Milo Rau, while the Batsheva Dance Company (for the first time at the Festival) presents a piece by its resident choreographer: the Israeli Ohad Naharin. Also for the first time in Almada will be the choreographers Martin Zimmermann and Yoann Bourgeois (from Switzerland and France, respectively), as well as the French collective Galactik Ensemble.

Among the Portuguese creations, focused on contemporary national dramaturgy, there are two premieres — by Companhia de Teatro de Almada, and by Teatro Griot / Artistas Unidos —, as well as plays by Teatro Nacional São João, Teatro do Vestido, Formiga Atómica , and Rui M. Silva. The Teatro Experimental de Cascais presents the Show of Honor 2023, voted by the public in the previous edition to return this year.

The Festival also hosts works by creators with roots outside Europe, such as the Lebanese director and actress Hanane Hajj Ali, and the French actor and director, of Algerian origin, Abdelwaheb Sefsaf.

Companies such as the Catalan Els Joglars and the Belgian Raoul Collectif, as well as the Galician creator Pablo Fidalgo, are also already known to the Almada public, returning with new creations.

In its 40th edition, Festival de Almada honors actor and director João Mota, founder of Comuna – Teatro de Pesquisa. Italian university professor Franco Laera will direct the 10th edition of the training course O sentido dos Mestres (The sense of the Masters), dedicated this year to theater production. Visual artist Noé Sendas is the author of the Festival's poster.

In addition to conversations with some of the creators present in Almada, the Festival organizes a "Encontro da Cerca" dedicated to the theme of Artificial Intelligence and artistic creation. Every day, before the evening shows, there will be world music concerts on the Esplanada of D. António da Costa School, with free entry.

Organization
Câmara Municipal de Almada
Companhia de Teatro de Almada