Teatro de Marionetas do Porto

Teatro de Marionetas do Porto

The Porto Puppet Theatre was founded in September 1988, a symbolic date that coincides with the company’s performance at the Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes in Charleville-Mézières. The company’s theatrical practice reveals an unconventional approach to puppetry—a concept that is, moreover, constantly evolving—and an understanding of puppet theatre as a poetic and visual language evocative of the contemporary world. They seek to find new ways of conceiving puppets, verging on kinetic objects, and new possibilities for exploring the grammar of this theatrical language, with regard to performance and the cross-disciplinary relationship with other areas of expression such as dance, the visual arts, music and the visual arts. In the year it celebrated its 25th anniversary (2013), the Porto Puppet Theatre realised the great dream of its founder João Paulo Seara Cardoso (1956–2010): the opening of the Porto Puppet Museum. In addition to its performances, its main activity, the company creates a wide variety of projects, ranging from workshops and staged readings to various exhibitions, thereby developing a strong connection with the community and the public. These activities are presented in the city of Porto at its various venues – the Belomonte Theatre, the Porto Puppet Museum and the Polo das Marionetas/Bonjóia – as well as through an extensive touring programme both nationally and internationally.