Manuela Soeiro and the Avenida Theater

It seems easy to be supportive... #1

Continue reading

How do they laugh in Africa? #2

Continue reading

Simone, do you want to go to Mozambique? #3

Continue reading

I am going to Mozambique! But to do what? #4

Continue reading

The meetings #5

Continue reading

Where do I start? #6

Continue reading

Meeting with

Continue reading

The first contacts with Mozambique #8

Continue reading

Agenda first mission in Mozambique #9

Continue reading

First mission: arrival in Maputo #1

Continue reading

But where am I? #2

Continue reading

Meeting with Alvim Cossa #3

Continue reading

Teatro do Oprimido Show #4

Continue reading

Meeting with the Machaka Association #5

Continue reading

The Show by the Machaka Group #6

Continue reading

Manuela Soeiro and the Avenida Theater #7

Continue reading

Gonçalo Mabunda #8

Continue reading

Meeting with the Luarte Association #9

Continue reading

Luarte Show #10

Continue reading

Maputo - Pemba Journey #11

Continue reading

Vitor Raposo #12

Continue reading

Pemba – Palma Trip #13

Continue reading

Visit to the village of Quionga #14

Continue reading

Visit to the village of Quirindi #15

Continue reading

That wonderful beach! #16

Continue reading

Visit to the village of Pundanhar #17

Continue reading

The Mamãe Kit #18

Continue reading

Visit to the hospital in Palma #19

Continue reading

Return to Italy #20

Continue reading

The project continues! #1

Continue reading

How many meetings are we going to have?!? #2

Continue reading

Agenda second mission in Mozambique #3

Continue reading

Second mission in Mozambique, arrival at Pemba #4

Continue reading

Felix Mambucho #5

Continue reading

Performance Vitor Raposo and the Tambo Tambulani Tambo company #6

Continue reading

Pemba – Palma Trip #7

Continue reading

Performances at Palma, on with the casting! No, stop! #8

Continue reading

Grupo do funzionarios #9

Content Continue reading

Performances (and casting) in the village of Pundanhar #10

Continue reading

Performances (and casting) in the village of Quionga #11

Content Continue reading

Selecting the actors for the Italian stages #12

Continue reading

Are you ready to come to Italy? #13

Continue reading

The return to Italy and end of the second mission #14

Continue reading

Preparing for the first training period at Alcatraz #1

Continue reading

Arrival at the Libera Università di Alcatraz #2

Continue reading

We begin! #3

Continue reading

Mario Pirovano #4

Continue reading

Acting with Mario Pirovano #5

Continue reading

Arms going up on their own! #6

Continue reading

A dive into the theatre #7

Continue reading

Let’s tell a love story! #8

Continue reading

Being an actor is hard work #9

Continue reading

What days! #10

Continue reading

O falso médico! #11

Continue reading

We all go shopping! #12

Continue reading

The performance takes shape #13

Continue reading

We need an ultrasound! #14

Continue reading

Rome has never been so beautiful! #15

Continue reading

Second training session: the first day... #1

Continue reading

The return of the Mozambicans #2

Continue reading

A tragic day #3

Continue reading

Memory tests with Mario Pirovano #4

Continue reading

Rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals… and that script in 3 languages… #5

Continue reading

First reading of the script in Swahili #6

Continue reading

Just for a change, we rehearse... #7

Continue reading

That damned video! #8

Continue reading

In and around Perugia #9

Continue reading

The last rehearsals #10

Continue reading

Action! #11

Continue reading

Changes to the show? Change the title?!? #1

Continue reading

Confusion in Fatima’s House #2

Continue reading

Preparation of the stage design #3

Continue reading

Ready to go (again)? #1

Continue reading

Arrival at Pemba #2

Continue reading

At Palma under the palm trees (wet!) #3

Continue reading

First day of the tour: Mute #4

Continue reading

Second day of the tour: Pundanhar #5

Continue reading

Third day of the tour: Quionga #6

Continue reading

Fourth day of the tour: Palma #7

Continue reading

Fifth day of the tour: Olumbe #8

Continue reading

Thank you Mozambique, thank you so much! #9

Continue reading

We have just had lunch, we take the car and change the neighborhood and the landscape. We head for the Avenida Theater. The building is located in a wide street, with commercial activities on both sides and traffic, we are in the part of the city which has the best services.

Teatro Avenida

Avenida is just like in the photos we have found on the net, we are talking about what probably is one of the best theaters in Maputo.

We meet Manuela Soeiro, director of the Avenida Theater for 30 years. She welcomes us smiling, she knows very well who we are, she knows Dario, Franca and Jacopo, she organized theater performances of their comedies, she tells us that in 2006 she was going to meet Jacopo but then it just did not happen.

We discovered this reality thanks to the actress Daniela Poggi (http://www.ilteatrofabene.it/da-dove-comincio/), who we had met in Italy, reality that here, in 2006, she shot the short film “Non si paga, social Theatre”(“Won’t Pay, Social Theatre “), inspired by a text by Dario Fo himself.

We are sitting in a semicircle in front of this elderly lady who tells us the stories of “her” theater and “her” actors. She is not just the director, she is Mama Avenida!

We briefly tell her about our project, she replies that the theater has its own company, Mutumbela Gogo, and she would be happy to work with us.

16-diari-mammaavenida2

She tells us laughing that the Avenida has never managed to self- finance, and for that reason many years ago she bought the place next to the theater and set up a bakery.

The best theater in Maputo finances itself thanks to a bakery. Beautiful Africa !

We take a tour inside the theater, they are preparing the lights and a set design; the usual photos and before leaving, purchases in the bakery, of course.

* * *

We have risked going to jail !!!

Ok, maybe I exaggerate, but we were stopped by the police because we took photos of their barracks. They wanted to sequester everything, they asked for our passports, in short, there was a bit of anxiety.

Thanks to the driver who had explained the situation to them, we got out of it with only a verbal warning.

I must say that those guns and those rifles were convincing to me. Absolutely convincing.