Orlando remains attractive. S/he has been thirty-six for at least a century. Is s/he a man? Is s/he a woman? S/he has no doubts about her/his genders, and yet s/he cannot be certain about them. Taking stock of her life as a married woman and a published poet, Orlando listens to the sound of the wind in the oak-tree, the same wind on which his/her husband sailed to Cape Horn. The cloud of humidity that suffuses everything in the 1800s thickens. But it was during the Great Frost that s/he was really (really?) happy, and Orlando prepares him/herself for the return of the Great Ice Carnival… With dramaturgy by Luísa Costa Gomes and direction by Carlos Pimenta, A Grande Vaga de Frio [The Great Frost] evokes that “biography” Virginia Woolf created for a chameleonic and ever-youthful figure who whimsically changes his/her sex and identity: a young noble from the 1500s who lives through three centuries, reaching his/her peak as a female writer during Woolf’s own time. Orlando is another showcase for Emília Silvestre’s refined compositional sense and confident plasticity, continuing the dazzling series of monologues and solos that have marked the career of the Ensemble actress, from Frank McGuinness’ Baglady (2001) to Winnie in Beckett’s Happy Days (2013) or to Cocteau’s The Human Voice (2011). The longest and most incantatory love letter to literature can once again be read on stage, as an expression of love for theatrical liberality.

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Tickets: € 10
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translated by Ana Luísa Faria (ed. Relógio D’Água)
dramaturgy: Luísa Costa Gomes
conceived and directed by Carlos Pimenta
music: Ricardo Pinto (viola de gamba Xurxo Varela)
costumes: Bernardo Monteiro
lighting design: Rui Monteiro
video: João Pedro Fonseca
set design: Carlos Pimenta, João Pedro Fonseca
production assistance: Génesis Abigail
cast: Emília Silvestre
co-produced by Ensemble – Sociedade de Actores, Centro Cultural de Belém, TNSJ

English surtitles

Ensemble
Ensemble is a place of theatrical research, production and training. The project has three fundamental axes: performances,  an actors studio and educational services. Their high quality performances are contemporary creations, built on texts from the classical and modern repertoire. The performances provide (excellent showcases) for young newly trained actors and promote the formation of new audiences.

This venue is fully accessible for wheelchair users.