A scene from "Ardente" ("Żar") Leszka Mądzika; photo by Ana d'Almeida / ACTA - A Companhia de Teatro do Algarve
Mądzik collaborated with A Companhia de Teatro do Algarve (ACTA) on the performance, which tells a Shakesperesque tale of forbidden love with a Portuguese spirit. ACTA is a professional theatre founded in 1998 by Luis Vincente in Faro, the capital of the Portuguese region of Algarve, located on the Southern coast of Portugal. Apart from the authors of Portuguese origin they stage both classical and modern repertory - from Sophocles, through Nikolai Gogol, Albert Camus to Dario Fo. It premiered in September and was staged at Teatro Lethes in Faro up through the 8th of October.
"Ardour" is the story of the boundless love of Ines and Pedro, the Romeo and Juliet of 14th century Portugal. Pedro, the son of King Alfons IV falls in love with Ines de Castro, the beautiful daughter of a simple Galician nobleman. The king disapproves of both the social standing and nationality of his son's sweetheart, to no avail however - the couple secretly gets married. On the king's order, however, Ines is murdered.
Two years later, on his enthronement, Pedro avenges his beloved one - he orders her body to be exhumed, dresses her in a royal crimson mantle, puts a crown on her head and made the noblemen guilty of the murder kiss the putrescent hand of the queen. In the night her body is brought to the church and placed in a beautiful white vault. The king orders that after his death his body should be placed in such a way that on the day of resurrection the lovers will be able look into each other's eyes straight away.
Leszek Mądzik recalls his first contact with the story of Ines and Pedro:
I travelled to Alcobaça. And it was here, in a Cistercian sanctuary that I noticed two tombs. They were joined by a white stone in a mysterious way. On the catafalques, just like on beds, two bodies were turned with their feet towards each other, so that after the resurrection they would fall straight into each other's arms. The strength of Ines and Pedro's love lay in their determination to remain together after death. With my imagination I broke the dormant stone blocks standing still. I wished to trace the beginning of the two young persons' love relationship marked by drama, ecstasy and ardent desire. It seemed that the bliss could have lasted forever, however that was not to be.
A Cistercian scholar took note of the remarkable act of love in his work "Alcobaça ilustrada". The king ordered that the corpse should be unveiled and placed on the throne. The priest brought the golden crown and the king carried out a peculiar ceremony where everyone had to kiss Ines', the queen's, cold hand.
"This scene makes us believe that one day they shall raise from the dead and will leave the tomb, united by the nakedness of their bodies", says Leszek Mądzik of the eternally romantic gesture of the tragic royal couple.
The production then returns to Portugal in early November, touring the cities of Albufeira, Lagoa, Portimão, Louletano and Tavira through the end of the month.
For more information on "Ardour", see: www.actateatro.org.pt
See more on the Theatre Confrontations Festival in Lublin
Source: ACTA