Companhia do Chapitô
| Collective creation: | Companhia do Chapitô |
| Artistic director: | José Carlos Garcia and Cláudia Novoa |
| Starring: | Jorge Cruz, Nádia Santos and Tiago Viegas |
| Technical director: | David Gonçalo Florentino |
| Script in Spanish: | María Guerrero and César Arias |
| Production director: | Tânia Melo Rodrigues |
| Distribution: | César Arias – MARMORE |
“They are irreverent, unbridled; respectfully disrespectful if you allow me the expression and their version would surely have entertained Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.”.El Día
After Edipo, the Companhia do Chapitô has dared to take on another complex if not complicated work from classical Greek theatre: Electra. And even starting with the tragic episode of vengeance of the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, the company produces a sophisticated parody of an ingenious show that impresses with its reinvention stylistic coherence, physical work and stage production: the cast of four is barely needed and the set, made from dessert spoons, takes Sophocles’ myth into our modern times with a touch of humour without losing any of its tragic elements.
In the Athens of King Agamemnon a war is declared to liberate the beautiful Helen from the claws of her kidnapper. With no favourable winds to set sail, Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia for the instructions of the prophets. This infuriates Clytemnestra, who plots her revenge along with Aegisthus, her lover and the King's cousin. After ten years of war and returning from Troy, Agamemnon is murdered and Electra, her father's favourite daughter and utterly devoted to him takes revenge with the help of her brother Orestes, killing their own mother and their uncle. This entire family bloodbath is narrated with the unmistakable style of Companhia do Chapitô: in the form of a zany comedy.
Electra is the production that marks the 20th birthday of the Companhia do Chapitô, founded in 1996. The company always uses comedy for its power to question all aspects of physical and social reality. Since it was first set up, the company has created multidisciplinary shows that are based on the physical performance of the actor, on a collective process and in constant development, questioning the audience's imagination with which it is closely linked. Chapitô actors communicate mainly through gesture and image, breaking down linguistic barriers and underscoring their universal vocation, which allows them to maintain a very close relationship with the audience.