Salgueiro Maia – The Cartography of a Monologue

Salgueiro Maia: Cartography of a Monologue, by Teatro do Noroeste – Viana Drama Centre.

The story of a production and of the people who created and watched it. And of the people who continue to create and watch it.

It began ten years ago. And it will continue, until a time and place that cannot yet be determined.

On 30 April 2014, to mark the 40th anniversary of the 25 April Revolution and as part of the programme for the Viana do Castelo 25 April Public Celebrations, the monologue 24A74 – Salgueiro Maia, written and performed by Ricardo Simões, based on *Chronicles of the Colonial War and the 25 April Revolution* by Salgueiro Maia – a sort of memoir by the captain who commanded the column that played a central role on the day of the Carnation Revolution.

On 30 April 2014, to mark the 40th anniversary of the 25 April Revolution and as part of the programme for the Viana do Castelo 25 April Public Celebrations, the monologue 24A74 – Salgueiro Maia, written and performed by Ricardo Simões, based on *Chronicles of the Colonial War and the 25 April Revolution* by Salgueiro Maia – a sort of memoir by the captain who commanded the column that played a central role on the day of the Carnation Revolution.

A 60-minute performance that had not originally planned for, but came to incorporate, a spontaneous discussion that arose at the end – an unusual development that transformed it, from the very outset and from the moment of its premiere, into something more than a one-way performance:

In the audience, people who had fought in the colonial war, or who had lived through the days of the dictatorship, or who had been born into democracy, wanted to express their views, ask questions, and take part in the artistic performance they had just experienced – perhaps in a spontaneous impulse similar to that of those who took to the streets when they realised they were living through Freedom Day.

In the audience, people who had fought in the colonial war, or who had lived through the days of the dictatorship, or who had been born into democracy, wanted to express their views, ask questions, and take part in the artistic performance they had just experienced – perhaps in a spontaneous impulse similar to that of those who took to the streets when they realised they were living through Freedom Day.

From there, and from the mere six performances originally planned, this small artistic endeavour rebelled and set off at a run, exploring new territories and performance opportunities, which emerged in line with the theme it embraced and the lightness of its step, since one actor, one technician and five books were always all that was needed to travel through Alto Minho, Porto, Maia, Almada, Portalegre, Elvas, Beja, Cáceres, Badajoz, Seville, Zaragoza, São Paulo and back to Viana do Castelo, in over 60 performances staged over the course of five years.

A journey that brought together encounters and conversations and witnessed improbable stories featuring anonymous protagonists from the grey Portugal of the dictatorship, such as many former combatants who, whilst still alive, suffer in silence, in a contrition that oppresses them and which continues to be swept under the carpet of contemporary history.

Ten years on, marking the 50th anniversary of the 25 April Revolution, Ricardo Simões returns to the stage as both actor and author of the original monologue, delving into a decade of profound experiences, now prompting the interplay between object and memory, text and document, past and present, to cohere in the creation of a new performance space entitled *Salgueiro Maia: cartography of a monologue*.