Teatro Experimental do Porto (TEP)

For this reason, we’ve been closely following the work developed in recent years by the oldest theatre company in Portugal, valuing its endurance and creative reinvention. “O Dia da Matança na História de Hamlet” [The Day of Murders in the Story of Hamlet], staged by António Júlio, extends that programme of tackling the past from a current viewpoint, precisely because it stages a play by Koltès, who in turn rewrites Shakespeare’s tragedy. The text is a condensed version of “Hamlet”, a play which Koltès, one of the most significant playwrights in the second half of the 20th century, admires. The whole action takes place in a single day, emphasising the pace at which events follow one another and the violence of acts. Hamlet and Ophelia, Gertrude and Claudius, the only surviving characters from the original story, appear doomed from the start. Having different goals, but an impending ending, they confront and battle each other, fighting for power and love. By meeting Koltès, we’ll be seeking Shakespeare, Hamlet and what the human condition grants us in despair. 


António Júlio (Gaia, 1977) is a performer and theatre director working out of Porto. Among his latest works stand out “Festa para Um” [Party for One], presented during the 85th anniversary of Teatro do Rivoli, in 2017; “Dead Souls”, based on Nikolai Gogol and produced by Teatro do Bolhão (Porto, 2015); “A Farsa” [Farse], based on Raul Brandão and staged by As Boas Raparigas… (Porto, 2014); and “Kavka”, by Raquel S., based on Franz Kafka, for the Porto University Theatre (Porto, 2013). He runs the performing course at ACE – School of Arts, where he also teaches. He curates VAGA – Mostra de Artes e Ideias, an initiative carried out by Teatro do Bolhão.

Teatro Experimental do Porto (TEP) is the oldest theatre company in Portugal and a forerunner of modern theatre. Its first performance premiered in 1953 under the artistic direction of António Pedro. In 2012, Gonçalo Amorim, theatre director in residence since 2010, took on the role of artistic director. It is one of the resident companies at Teatro Campo Alegre in the scope of the Teatro em Campo Aberto programme.