Ei! Marionetas / Teatro e Marionetas de Mandrágora

Ei! Marionetas - Encontro Internacional de Marionetas de Gondomar 2025

Margins [ PERFORMANCE ]

• Teatro e Marionetas de Mandrágora
• M/3 . 30mins . free access


• “Margens” is a community creation project that is part of the “Vestir a Primavera” initiative, developed by Teatro e Marionetas de Mandrágora in partnership with the Municipality of Gondomar since 2016. This project focuses on the identity of the region and is inspired by the legend of the creation of the Douro River, which is deeply connected to the natural landscape of the riverbanks. The legend serves as the thematic basis for artistic exploration and community involvement in the creation of the puppet theatre show.
  The development of “Margens” includes collaboration with local schools, where students are involved in the creation of puppets using sustainable materials. These puppets are designed to represent fish, which embody the spirit of the river, drawing inspiration from the region's rich cultural heritage. This process not only fosters creativity and technical skills, but also encourages appreciation of the environment and the historical narratives that shape local identity.
  Working with various artists and the community reinforces the power of artistic expression to promote the sharing of knowledge and experiences. The project employs a multidisciplinary approach, combining elements of puppet creation, manipulation, and performance. It provides a unique platform for engaging in critical thinking, debate, and artistic expression, while deepening their understanding of traditions.
  The involvement of different age groups and sectors of the community in “Margens” promotes social cohesion and intergenerational exchange.


• artistic intervention project in public space

Margins

Legend has it that the Douro River was born from the tears of a princess. Her golden tears were made of dreams and bitterness, and each drop that fell to the ground was a grain of life that nourished the earth. The earth opened up to receive them, and with each tear that fell, the ground opened up a little more, giving rise to a small stream. Over time, the stream became a large and majestic river—the Douro.

The Douro River awoke with the desire to be the first river to reach where no other had gone before. And so it flowed with the force of the gold it carried in its bed, to make up for the time lost in that long sleep.

what the festival has to say

Legend has it that the Douro River was born from the tears of a princess. Her golden tears were made of dreams and bitterness, and each drop that fell to the ground was a grain of life that nourished the earth. The earth opened up to receive them, and with each tear that fell, the ground opened up a little more, giving rise to a small stream. Over time, the stream became a large and majestic river—the Douro.

The Douro River awoke with the desire to be the first river to reach where no other had gone before. And so it flowed with the force of the gold it carried in its bed, to make up for the time lost in that long sleep.

Teatro e Marionetas de Mandrágora

Teatro e Marionetas de Mandrágora is a professional puppet theater company with artistic direction by Clara Ribeiro and Filipa Mesquita and art direction by enVide neFelibata. The company was founded on April 2, 2002. In the symbiosis of a symbolic language that combines heritage and traditional legacy with contemporary society's thought and dynamics, often in a not-so-peaceful dialogue, a fundamental element emerges: the puppet. This element supports us in the search for our own cultural identity.

Our goal is to discover the aesthetic, visual, scenic, and dramatic potential of the puppet itself, as well as in its relationship with the actor, and in this discovery, explore the dramaturgy that characterizes us: to explore culture, belief, and legend allied with the city, technological exploration, and the speed of the global village. Throughout our artistic journey, we have presented various proposals to different audiences, including adults, youth, school, and family groups, as well as in basic and specialized training. One of our major commitments is the national and international tour of our projects. Decentralization, community work, partnership creation, and social and inclusive value are predominant concerns in our daily activities.

Over these 22 years, we have established the company as a contemporary artistic creation structure through dozens of show proposals presented nationally and internationally, whether they are our own creations or collaborations with other national and international cultural structures and entities. Our premise is to provide space for the creative freedom of our artistic team, ensuring the existence within the structure of various languages and diverse visions that unite in the common goal of developing the art of puppet theater. Reflection on social fragility issues and a keen eye on traditions and heritage form the basis of the Company's dramaturgy, consolidated in distinct yet simultaneously convergent perspectives.

Dialogue with diverse audiences and the involvement of creation in different contexts and spaces, as well as the intersection between entities and structures, is fundamental, creating multidisciplinary proposals aimed mainly at artistic communication with audiences. Noteworthy is our collaboration with numerous educational services in the implementation of activities in institutions such as monuments, museums, and heritage buildings.

art

links

• ei.marionetasmandragora.pt
• loja.marionetasmandragora.pt
• marionetasmandragora.pt
• facebook.com/marionetas.mandragora
• instagram.com/marionetas_mandragora
• youtube.com/@MarionetasMandragora

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that's how

The “Margens” project was presented, thus ending a cycle that began with the arrival of spring and now closes with the end of spring and the arrival of summer.

Themes related to the identity of the municipality of Gondomar were explored. The relationship with the Douro River was explored in a poetic way using objects, puppets, dramatic games, live music, and ending with the installation of a sculpture in the gardens of the Camilo de Oliveira Municipal Library in Gondomar, which in recent years has consecutively hosted the “Vestir a Primavera” (Dressing Spring) project. This was the implementation of a large figure interacting with the forest space, linking the artistic activities of the Teatro e Marionetas de Madndrágora with seasonality and its celebration, now also combining the proximity of the arrival of the Ei! Marionetas festival.

This project extends over time through a series of face-to-face sessions for the creation of puppets and the exploration of dramatic play with the participants. In the first phase, in close collaboration with the Silveirinhos Social Association, and in the second phase through intensive work with children, many of whom attend the holiday activities at the Teatro e Marionetas de Madndrágora, an activity developed through the Puppet School program, implemented at Casa Branca de Gramido on a regular and continuous basis.

The large sculpture was created by artist Migvel Tepes, who designed it to be moved through public spaces using a bicycle. The fins of this symbolic fish, articulated by the rotation of the bicycle wheels, connect the Douro River with the entire artistic project.

The artistic direction of this project was entrusted to Clara Ribeiro, who has extensive experience working with institutions whose users or students are often in situations of psychological or physical vulnerability. Her extensive experience in the field of puppetry has led to the development of a program that has been widely developed over the years, whether through the work that the participants develop among themselves, in the relationship between the presentations and their family and social community, or in the coordination of activities to improve the quality of personal artistic development.

The team of actors and trainers involved in the show provides comfort to the participating teams, who are young people or individuals in vulnerable situations who often depend on structured guidance during the show to guide them through the activity. Live music brings an added dimension in the sense that we are in direct contact with different art forms, namely theatre, music, and visual expression, which gives the project a concrete, real, and direct artistic dimension that affects not only the audience but, above all, has a future impact on its participants, taking into account that we work with young participants who in some way grow with the Company, developing an artistic program that becomes part of their daily lives and thus fulfils the function that, without a doubt, artistic growth in a social relationship creates sensitive individuals with a set of tools in their relationship with others, as well as in their relationship with audiences, which will be fundamental to their personal growth.

It is intense work that generates a continuous relationship not only with young audiences, who over the years become critical, present, analytical, and interventionist audiences, capable of understanding through their sensitivity the artistic dimension and how important it is in a balanced society, attentive to itself, which dialogues through reality, an articulation between people and poetic dimensions.