ABC da Guerra is a programme of reflection designed and led by João Sousa Cardoso, based on the reading and analysis of works of modern and contemporary dramaturgy related to the topic of war. The series includes Portuguese and international authors, and it takes place monthly between January and November 2025, in Sala Mário Viegas at Teatro São Luiz. The subject is not addressed chronologically or graphically, and occasionally it might be approached via its opposite or tangentially, where the war context is used as a background (as in Señora Carrar’s Rifles, by Bertolt Brecht, which will close the programme), or where the social conflict is of an economic or cultural nature. In each session, João Sousa Cardoso will analyse the text both as a whole (aesthetically, sociologically, politically) and in terms of its specific elements (formal aspects, marginalia, intertextuality). He is a university professor and essayist who has been developing theoretical analyses in the area of cross-thinking and the intersection between different art forms. Also in each session, an actress or actor will read excerpts of the play, in close dialogue with critical reflection.
The project intends to create a reading circle that promotes a collective analytical and critical study of texts from the history of theatre over the last one hundred years, aimed at an audience of both professionals and amateurs, theorists and artists, bringing together people with varying levels of education and belonging to different age groups. The auditorium space and the low lighting create an atmosphere of conference-performance, promoting a close relationship with the audience. To give unity to these encounters, visual artist Ana Pérez-Quiroga has created a summary scenographic environment that incites mental images of the war. The project will culminate in a publication including the ten critical texts and a comparative reading of all of the dramaturgic texts studied, as well as stills from the sessions, to be published in 2026.
Texts: The Blacks, by Jean Genet (1958), Summer and Smoke, by Tennessee Williams (1948), It’s Only the End of the World, by Jean-Luc Lagarce (1990), Blasted, by Sarah Kane (1995), Señora Carrar’s Rifles, by Bertolt Brecht (1937), among others.
Programme
28 January | Father and Son Discuss the War by Karl Valentin (1947) with Cláudia Jardim
4 February | Mauser by Heiner Muller (1970) with Miguel Borges
4 March | The Blacks by Jean Genet (1958) with Joãozinho da Costa
15 April | The Empire of the East by Jorge de Sena (1964) with André Teodósio
6 May | Living Museum of Small and Forgotten Memories by Joana Craveiro (2015) with Carla Bolito
3 June | Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams (1948) with Cátia Tomé
24 June | It’s Only the End of the World by Jean-Luc Lagarce (1990) with Elmano Sancho
And next season…
30 September | Blasted by Sarah Kane (1995) with Ricardo Teixeira
28 October | Tina M. by Eduarda Dionísio (2001) with Joana Bárcia
18 November | Señora Carrar’s Rifles by Bertolt Brecht (1937), with Lia Gama
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