LU.CA, a new theatre for kids
A new municipal theatre has been born on the Calçada da Ajuda.
With an eye on the future, and pushing harder to create new audiences for the arts, Lisbon now has a theatre which is exclusively dedicated to art programmes for youngsters.
This space has a long history dating back to 1737 when it was known as Casa da Ópera do Rei D. João V. Almost three rich and varied centuries later, this renovated theatre is reopening as a LU.CA - Place for Children and the Arts.
Its regular programme is dedicated to contemporary creation with a particular focus on performing arts, theatre, dance, contemporary circus and their interaction with other forms of art and artistic expression. It’s a place for artists and their creations, for families and for schools, for neighbours and for friends, for children and young people.
Welcome to LU.CA’s Inauguration Days.
With Aesop’s Fables as a starting point (teaching us about intelligence, justice and wisdom), we created a small programme which brings together different art forms and will be repeated over three days. As it’s a special occasion, we’ll be toasting with lemonade and cake and celebrating until the end of the day.
La Fontaine’s Fables (As Fábulas de La Fontaine)
Concert by the Orquestra Juvenil Metropolitana
Main Auditorium (Sala Principal)
Friday to Sunday at 3pm
Length: 60 min
Over 3s
It’s common to hear moral stories which tell us about our qualities and flaws. But as people are complicated beings, the fable was invented to illustrate behaviours which are better understood if they’re exhibited by animals. We all understand the false disdain of the fox towards the grapes he’s sitting under; the ones he wants but can’t reach. We owe short narratives like this to Ancient Greece’s Aesop and then later on to Jean de La Fontaine who, in the 17th century, gave them a truly universal appeal. This concert is a happy meeting of music and word that will engage our minds, awakening the genuine curiosity we feel when we hear a story for the first time.
Orquestra Juvenil Metropolitana conducted by Maestro Élio Leal
Narrated by Isabel Abreu, Inês Fonseca Santos, Inês Meneses, Joana Barrios, Margarida Mestre and Raquel Castro
Images by Daniel Blaufuks
Original Music by Lino Guerreiro
Light Design by Rui Monteiro
Pedagogical Coordination by Susana Henriques
Photographisms (Fotografismos)
Photography workshop
Mezzanine
Friday to Sunday, 4pm
Length: 4 hours
With a white background and various props, we’ll be inventing characters and experiencing theatre photography from bygone days. We’ll be printing the photos in black and white and then painting them, playing around with colours using ecolines and water-based paints. In this way, the memories of theatre’s (and photography’s) early days will be put down on paper.
Coordinated by Maria João Carvalho & Sílvia Moreira
Public's Librarie - Awesome Books (Really!)
Mezzanine and with access to the boxes
Friday to Sunday, 4pm
Length: 60 min
We found out that Sara Amada has a blog called prateleira-de-baixo (lower shelf). The site features illustrated albums, but also a service which provides individual children with books that have been specially chosen for them according to their tastes, interests and age, for example. We challenged Sara to curate books for us, at first just for the coming days, but then expanding her curatorship so that it’s in sync with, and in the orbit of, each of our shows. These handpicked books will help us see each play from multiple perspectives; they’ll bring us closer, interfere and question, they’ll suggest new readings, ring bells and get us thinking.
Curatorship Sara Amado
Peeking at the Auditorium through Binoculars
Boxes
Friday to Sunday, 5pm
Length: 2 hours
From mid-afternoon until the end of the day we’ll be able to visit the boxes and take a peek at the auditorium. And so that we don’t miss any important details, we’ll be using binoculars.
Shelter (Abrigo)
Mezzanine
Friday to Sunday
What shelter? This exhibition brings together the projects of first-year Environmental Design students at ESAD in Caldas da Rainha. The students chose animals and then went about designing a shelter for each one based on a study of their characteristics, behaviours and profiles. In short, these houses are artificial structures designed according to human reasoning and are therefore very different from the animals’ actual, naturally-occurring, shelters.
Teachers: Célia Gomes and Filipe Alarcão
Participating students: Marco Eutíquio, Margarida Domingos, Joana Dias, Beatriz Abade, Maria Silva Magda Sousa and Alexandre Cruz
Xirriquiteula Teater - Giraffes
Entrance area and outside
5pm (Fri), 6pm (Sat) and 7pm (Sun)
Three long-necked animals invade the Calçada da Ajuda and its theatre, catching everyone off guard. They don’t speak, but they like to make friends. These giraffes are Inaugurations Days’ big afternoon surprise and a kind of special (and spatial) guest. Get ready!