Victor de Oliveira “Incêndios” (Fires) by Wajdi Mouawad

December 13 and 14, 2019
Culturgest, Lisbon, Portugal

After the programme cycle dedicated to the theme Colonial Memories, Culturgest continues its long term focus on contemporary creation and critical discourse from Africa and the African diaspora in Portugal. The objectives are twofold: 1. Support the visibility of contemporary creation form the ‘global south’ in Portugal and Europe, and 2. Enhance our capacity to enter in dialogue with culturally diverse audiences from Lisbon.

Created in Maputo by Portuguese stage director Victor de Oliveira and Mozambican artists David Aguacheiro, Nandele Maguni and Caldino Perema, Fires has a cast of ten Mozambican actors, including the highly regarded Ana Magaia. Co-produced by Culturgest, it premiered in Maputo in August 2019.

The play begins with the death of Nawal, who, in her will, asks her twin children Joana and Simão to look for their father and brother, whom they never met, following their search for a terrible truth, hidden in a past marked by civil war in the far-off country from which their mother fled. 

Born in Maputo during the war of independence, Victor de Oliveira came to Portugal with his parents and studied theatre with Luís Miguel Cintra, João Brites and Fernanda Lapa, later settling in Paris. He has returned to Maputo on several occasions, giving lessons and presenting work. Fires marks Victor de Oliveira’s dual return to Maputo and Lisbon.

photo: Bruno Huca