In the annus horribilis that was 2020, in order for some shows not to be cancelled, as well as their professionals’ fees, we made a commitment, at the peak of the pandemic, to present them this year.
For that, it was fundamental that the municipality, once again, understood the situation, making two more days available for this edition of the festival, the most full but also the most diverse ever.
We will present historical companies and four co-productions with new national creators, new circus and dance-theatre from Spain, the return of the Galician Drama Centre to the Viana do Castelo stage, shows from Brazil and Cape Verde for the first time and, also for the first time, a show from the National Theatre D. Maria II, with the special support of the Viana do Castelo City Hall.
The inclusive and accessible matrix that distinguishes the festival is maintained and reinforced with the first audio description session of a theatre show at the Teatro Municipal Sá de Miranda, the result of the adherence, along with four other theatres nationwide, of the Teatro do Noroeste – Centro Dramático de Viana to the Network of Theatres with Accessible Programming, at the invitation of the Acesso Cultura association, with the support of BPI and Fundação La Caixa.
Three decades of cultural cooperation between the Municipality and the Resident Company allowed, in 2020, to turn into forces the stoppage dictated by the pandemic and to start a new model of Coordination, programming and shared artistic direction of the Teatro Municipal Sá de Miranda.
Only eleven months later, this new dynamic has just been highlighted as an example of good practice in cultural management at the recent Malta International Theatre Conference, in which Teatro Municipal Sá de Miranda and
and Teatro do Noroeste – Centro Dramático de Viana formalized their adhesion to the European Theatre Convention, the oldest and largest network of public theatres in the European Union.
It is therefore with renewed joy that the Northwest Theatre – Viana Drama Centre organizes the Viana do Castelo Theatre Festival, together with the Viana do Castelo City Hall, at the unequalled Municipal Theatre Sá de Miranda.
