TEATRO DO VESTIDO

Based on an extensive collection of stories about the life of the truck driver and the road, this show explores the poetic potential of lives that are in permanent movement. These are also lives of kilometre after kilometre of loneliness, of physical distance from the family, of fleeting nights, of a geographical knowledge of the highways, main roads, roadside restaurants and hotels. A show that is a sort of manual for the single traveller, whilst it also speaks of the Portuguese restlessness that we know so well - that of leaving; and, once out there, that of wanting to come back, so one might leave again, driven by this thing that compels us to go on kilometre after kilometre after kilometre, without stopping.

The Teatro do Vestido collective was founded in 2001 and has produced 36 different works, to date. The company’s work is noted for its research and experimentation as well as for the creation of original drama. It also well-known for its strong relationship with a variety of performance spaces and for the development of initiatives designed to create a community of attentive spectators, immersed in a contemplation of reality. Under the artistic direction of Joana Craveiro, the company also engages in collaborative work.

Joana Craveiro is the artistic director of the Teatro do Vestido collective, which she founded in 2001. She has directed over 30 projects to date, having written most of these and also having participated in them as actress and co-creator. She trained as an actor at the Higher School for Theatre and Cinema (1997), has a degree in Anthropology from the New University of Lisbon, FCSH (2003) and a Master’s in Directing from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (2004). She is currently working on her PhD in the Theatre and Performance Studies Department at Roehampton University, in London. She is researching ways of communicating memories of the New State, 25 April and PREC. She is an FCT scholar.