Gonçalo Amorim & Paulo Furtado / Teatro Experimental do Porto (TEP)

Estro [from the Greek “oîstros” and Latin “oestrus”] stands for inspiration, enthusiasm, poetic fury. Estro is also the title of a project directed by Gonçalo Amorim and Paulo Furtado. Teatro Experimental do Porto, a resident company at Teatro Campo Alegre in the scope of the Teatro em Campo Aberto programme, and often featuring in Teatro Municipal do Porto’s programme, sets out to explore the dual nature of the word “rock” and of poetic practice. As in the Iliad or the Odyssey, which are known to have been compilations of stories of heroes, wars and passions told in squares, rock made use of the poetic word to publicly shout life, to call everyone to talk about death, war, loves and quarrels, loneliness, concrete jungles, the working class experience and oppression. Such public profile, gathering people around it, bringing them together, is at drastic odds with the introspection the poetic gesture so often requires. In the age of rock, a new place in the public sphere was established as a political and aesthetic reference, a place that used to be taken by theatre. What happened to that heritage? Where are the minstrels? Estro wishes to hand this style of music its popular songbook status back.


GONÇALO AMORIM (Porto, 1976) is an actor and theatre director. In 2012 he took on the artistic direction of Teatro Experimental do Porto, where he had been working as resident theatre director since 2010. He is also the artistic director of FITEI – International Theatre Festival of Iberian Expression since 2014. 

PAULO FURTADO (Mozambique, 1970) is the founder and composer of The Legendary Tigerman, WrayGunn and Tédio Boys. He created soundtracks for films and theatre plays. This is his third project with TEP. 

TEATRO EXPERIMENTAL DO PORTO (TEP) is the oldest theatre company in Portugal and a forerunner of modern theatre. Its first performance premiered in 1953. It is one of the resident companies at Teatro Campo Alegre in the scope of the Teatro em Campo Aberto programme.