MECANIkA

This performance puts forward an intense and suggestive universe, evocative of the world of night and shadows. All of these black and white characters are intriguing due to the specific strangeness that they emanate. They convene of childhood fears that emerge at night, in the dark and in dreams. Everything comes to life when the light goes out in the evening in the children’s bedroom. Like in a dream, the characters that inhabit our imagination come to life. The story unfolds here in a funny and poetic interplay confronting these age-old fears. How do we deal with fears at night, shadows, chiaroscuro and these ambiguous characters, straight out of fairy tales? Pour bien dormir is designed as a visual narrative, an immersion in poetic encounters with these fantastic, loveable yet heartless creatures, so close to our fears, temptations and desires.


MECANIkA’s goal is to develop and explore current puppetry by interacting with other contemporary artistic fields, in a form known as image theatre. It is a look at contemporary reality and how we are the representatives. Various productions by the founder of the company, Paulo Duarte, throughout his career, in the world of visual or performing arts, constitute a very specific and unique view in a metaphorical and contemporary reality. His proposals continually seek an image to convey meaning, from the initial impetus, driving the project to the image that forms the visual/plastic portrayal. It may be natural or artificial, visual or not, tangible or conceptual; it may directly resemble its model or on the contrary relate to it in a more symbolic fashion.