SE UMA JANELA SE ABRISSE (IF A WINDOW WOULD OPEN)

Seventy-five minutes of comic theatrical genius... manages to touch upon some of the most fundamental pre-suppositions of society - language, media and the trust invested in politicians.

- LATIFA AKAY, TODAY'S ZAMAN (9/10/2011)

What do we see when we watch the Nine O'Clock News? The reality? Or rather, a proposition of reality which is some news organisation's idea of what is more important? If a Window Would Open takes as its starting point a television news bulletin in which the voices of the presenters are spoken over by those of the actors with the idea of replacing a public discourse with a more intimate one. Through humour and inventiveness, the work tries to find alternative ways of talking about information which has been massaged by the news media. Is the birth of another journalism possible, with another scale of human values? This is one of the ideas floated by the director, writer and actor, Tiago Rodrigues, the moving force behind the Portuguese company, Mundo Perfeito. An innovative figure within Portuguese theatre, Rodrigues is known for breaking down the barriers between theatre and other realities. He has also collaborated throughout his career on a range of international projects with recognised artists who share his interest in exploring new theatrical forms and languages, such as the Belgian company, tg Stan and Rabih Mroué and Tony Chakar from Lebanon. With this work, Mundo Perfeito explores the importance of silence in a theatrical game which gives new meaning to the reports contained in news bulletins, provoking a profound reflection on communication, discourse and its manipulation.

As a "deconstruction of journalism" - as it was described by one commentator - the work was nominated for the award of Best Production of the Year by the Portuguese Society of Authors. The title, If a Window Would Open, is borrowed from the following lines written by Alberto Caeiro (one of the pseudonyms used by the Portuguese poet, Fernando Pessoa):

"There's just a closed window, and the whole world out there
And a dream about what one could see if a window opened
Which is never the same as what one sees when the window opens."

www.mundoperfeito.pt