It is in an uncertain time from where Lígia Soares and Sónia Baptista speak to us. We don’t know exactly where they are, or what future they live in. It is, however, a future in which two women can find themselves around an oil drum dipping “branded” sneakers in dirty water, and in which the memory of a past that corresponds to the present in which we live today, begins to unravel. In the dystopian – or even utopian – scenario in which these two women meet and disburse separate memories of a disappeared world, reality is summed up in an exercise of memory that brings the aberrant side of what we are experiencing today, relating to both the capitalist maelstrom and the climatic emergency.
Gonçalo Frota, in Jornal O Público
LÍGIA SOARES Portuguese choreographer and playwright. She holds a BA Degree in dance and choreography by Lisbon Hight School of Dance. She started her professional path with the Senssuround Theatre Company in 1997. She was artist-in-residency in TanzFabrik Berlin from 2004 to 2006. With Andresa Soares she co-directed Máquina Agradável until 2014 (Lisbon). Her work has been shown nationally and internationally and featured in numerous contemporary theatre and dance programs. She has also developed several programming projects with other artists or within collectives, such as Demimonde and Face-a-Face. Following works such as “Romance”, “Turning Backs” or “O Ato de Primavera”, she has continued her research on how to create scenic devices that include the viewer’s presence as a constituent element of the show’s dramaturgy. Four of her pieces have been published by Douda Correria. Her play “Cinderela” won the Eurodram 2018 award.
CONCEPTION AND TEXT Lígia Soares
COCREATION AND PERFORMANCE Lígia Soares and Sónia Baptista
DRAMATURGICAL SUPPORT AND MUSIC Mariana Ricardo
LIGHT Rui Monteiro
SOUND CONSULTANT Diogo Alvim
ASSISTANCE Vanda Rodrigues
PRODUCTION Vanda Rodrigues/ Colecção B
RESIDENCY OF CO-PRODUCTION O Espaço do Tempo
HOSTING Teatro do Silêncio
Performance created with the financial support by Governo de Portugal | DGArtes
This is a future time in relation to today which is already the past.
On the scene are two women, one called Lígia and the other Sónia. They are dirty without knowing, they have not looked themselves in the mirror for more than a decade and they vigorously wash Nike sneakers in an oil canister filled with dirty water.
It is likely that the toxicity of the water of the future will tolerate their ideas and uncontrolled emotions, so it is advisable to read the text as if you had smoked a joint.
Thus begins the publication of the text at the base of this piece. Before pre-washing, the context, therefore. We learn, but not for sure, that it has been a long time since the old days, and that after all the apocalypse was not quite what we thought. We think, I mean.
While rubbing, they walk (although always in the same place) supporting themselves, shooting, playing and composing meanings with the words, which seem to gain more meanings, power.
It is a hilarious and very serious journey, which takes place in a time when “we went too far”, when distinguishing things is difficult, when memory becomes the present, stained, and with stains so difficult to remove.
A time when brands, words, food, money, tar, lightness and heavy metals, for example, are reminiscences that release effluvia with varied effects.
It is a manual wash, yet sometimes centrifugal, sometimes centripetal.
Only those who are not are not wet.
Mariana Brandão
Mickael de Oliveira was born in France, in 1984, and has lived in Portugal since 1999. In 2013, he got his Ph.D. in contemporary Portuguese and European dramaturgy from the School of Humanities – University of Lisbon, where he is post-doctoral fellow researching the presence of literature in contemporary theatre and dance. In 2008, Mickael founded Colectivo 84, the theatre company for which he develops playwriting and directing projects. His work O que é teu entregou aos mortais was distinguished with the Maria Matos New Playwriting Award (Maria Matos Municipal Theatre, 2007), and Clytemnestra received an Honorable Mention – António José da Silva Prize (D. Maria II National Theatre, Lisbon / FUNARTE, Brazil, 2012). Some of his most recent productions include Oslo–Fuck Them All and Everything Will Be Wonderful (co-created with Nuno M Cardoso, Gil Vicente Academic Theatre, São Luiz Municipal Theatre), The Constitution (2016, Dona Maria National Theatre), and the diptych Socrates Must Die (Socrates’ Death / The Life of John Smith, 2017/2018, Vila Flor Cultural Centre, São Luiz Municipal Theatre, Viriato Theatre, Gil Vicente Academic Theatre. Mickael has served as the artistic director of END – New Dramaturgy Encounters, a project that aims to foster new Portuguese and international playwriting (1st edition at the São Luiz Municipal Theatre, Lisbon, Nov. 2010; 2nd and 3rd editions at the Gil Vicente Academic Theatre, March, Coimbra, 2015/2019). He was Assistant Professor of Arts Administration and Artistic Studies at the School of Education and Humanities (Leiria), guest Lecturer at the School of Theatre and Film Studies (Lisbon), and guest Assistant Professor at the School of Humanities – University of Coimbra. From September 2011 to August 2015, Mickael was Assistant Artistic Director of the Gil Vicente Academic Theatre (Coimbra).
Patrícia Portela is a writer and performance maker born in 1974, living between Belgium and Portugal. She has a BA in set and costume design by the high school of theatre and cinema of Lisbon, a Masters of Arts in scenography and dramaturgy of space from the University of Utrecht and Saint Martins college of art in Antwerp, a post-graduation in theatricality and performativity from APT in Antwerp, a film stage at the European film school in Ebeltoft, Denmark, and a Masters in Philosophy of the University of Leuven, Belgium. Since 2003 she has worked on her own performances and installations in collaboration with international artists. She has achieved national and international recognition for her unusual work and is considered one of the most daring artists and innovative writers of her generation. She won the Revelation Prize in 1994 for her creative work in performance and cinema, the Prize Teatro na Década for T5 in 1999, the Gulbenkian Foundation Prize Madalena de Azeredo Perdigão for the performance Flatland I in 2004 and was one of the 5 finalists of the Sonae Media Art Prize 2015 with her installation Parasomnia, amongst other prizes. She has been invited to participate in the prestigious International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa in 2013 and to be the first Outreach Fellow. She was the first literary resident in Berlin in 2016, sponsored by the Portuguese Embassy in Germany/Instituto Camões. She lectures “dramaturgy and space” and “image” regularly at Universities and cultural centers in Portugal (such as University of Minho or University of Lisbon) and abroad (University of Antwerp, Escola de Escrita in Curitiba, etc). She is the author of several novels, short stories and performances, such as Dias úteis (2016, considered one of the books of the year by several reviewers) or Banquet (finalist at the Novel Prize of APE 2012). She is a chronicle writer for the prestigious Jornal de Letras since 2017 and for the National Radio Antena 1.
Rui Horta was one of the most influencial choreographers of his generation, his work being presented all over the world such as the Theatre de la Ville, that co-produced it for over a decade. He directed S.O.A.P. at the Mousonturm, and created for many companies such as NDT, Cullberg, Geneva, Gotemburg, etc. 
