As Filhas do Fogo
PORTUGAL
Espetáculo / Música, vídeo
“Daughters of Fire”
From the acclaimed director Pedro Costa and following his award-winning film “Vitalina Varela”, the premiere of “As Filhas do Fogo” (Daughters of Fire‘), a show that merges cinema, music and theatre. Pedro Costa collaborates with Os Músicos do Tejo and proposes a stage format that once again places the emphasis on postcolonialism.
“As Filhas do Fogo” follows the story of three young cape-verdean sisters upon their arrival at a foreign European port, in an attempt to escape another devastating eruption of the volcano Fogo. In this unknown country, they roam, hand in hand, evoking their secret fears through music and singing.
No demon comes to greet the girls, instead, a group of joyful musicians challenges their will to resist the charms of this new deceiving society. Projected in light and shadow, the sinister face of a jester appears, like a prophet, guiding us through alleys, days and nights of suburban slums, where thousands of migrants scarcely survive. Later, the three sisters reappear, tired and disillusioned, as if carrying the whole world on their shoulders: they have now joined the working class. They are now cleaners. Once again, the band of musicians appears, encircling them.
The voices of the girls come together in a desperate prayer, sung in their native Creole dialect. Falling under the spell of a melancholic lullaby, the sisters are separated: the two youngest disappear through space, while the oldest sings: “in light of all the misery, people just throw their unbearable lives away…”.
Artistic direction: Pedro Costa
Musical direction: Os Músicos do Tejo / Marcos Magalhães, Marta Araújo
Light design Leonardo Simões
Singers: Anastácia Carvalho, Karina Gomes, Elizabeth Pinard
The man with the transistor: Miguel Sermão
Os Músicos do Tejo: Nuno Mendes e Álvaro Pinto (violin), Paul Wakabayashi (viola), Pedro Massarrão (cello), Vicente Magalhães (contrabass), Pedro Castro (oboe and bevel flute), Marta Araújo (harpsichor), Marco Oliveira (guitar), Marcos Magalhães (organ)
Actors on film: Selma Uamusse, Costa Neto, Fernando Guimarães, Pedro Meireles
Direction: Pedro Costa
Edition: João Dias
Sound: Hugo Leitão
Image post-production: Ricardo Mesquita
Support to the presentations: Câmara Municipal de Lisboa / EGEAC
Os Músicos do Tejo are supported by DG Artes, Câmara Municipal de Lisboa and Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal
