Mar ~ Marionetas | Espinho International Puppet Festival

Mar~Marionetas - Festival Internacional de Marionetas de Espinho 2026

The Marquis of Pombal and the Jesuits [ SHOW ]

• S.A.Marionetas – Teatro & Bonecos < Alcobaça
• M/4 . 15mins . free access

The Marquis of Pombal and the Jesuits

During the time of the Marquis of Pombal, on Good Friday, at his behest, his maid Maria went to buy a large sausage. She was then arrested and accused of blasphemy by the inquisitor. What follows are the typical twists and turns of this type of theater, culminating in the Marquis expelling the Jesuits and Inquisitors from the country, placing them on a boat at sea, which eventually sinks after being attacked by piranhas.

what the festival has to say

Teatro Dom Roberto will be performing in every parish in the municipality of Espinho.

Listed in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory, Teatro Dom Roberto will play a distinctive role in this edition of the Espinho International Puppet Festival.

As a naturally street-based theater, created for the people and occupying public spaces… for this performance, we welcome the S.A.Marionetas company, which has been producing work of excellence for over 20 years, not only in presenting this type of theater but also in researching, promoting, and disseminating this theatrical form nationally and internationally.

Recognized as an organization that values this traditional theatrical technique, it is undoubtedly a great pleasure for Mar~Marionetas to host and bring to the neighborhoods once again a production that we believe offers a very interesting novelty.

This is because, from the existing traditional repertoire, master puppeteer José Gil, together with his team, conducted research seeking to recover one of the stories—known to exist but lost to time—which we now present at the Festival.

For this reason, we are undoubtedly very pleased to be able to present this new story, which can now once again be included in the inventory of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Thus, we will present two stories that are part of the repertoire: “The Devilish Barber,” perhaps one of the most traditional stories and most frequently performed by the dozen puppet masters active nationwide, and “The Marquis of Pombal and the Jesuits.” a story whose existence was known through historical documentation, but which until now no one had managed to achieve—a feat accomplished here—of bringing to the stage the various scattered elements of this narrative, found in documents, legacies, and images throughout the country.

In our opinion, this is a must-see, and you have four opportunities to catch these performances, as they will be hosted in various parishes, always near public spaces and churchyards—a format that harkens back to the traditional puppet troupes of the past, which traveled in large numbers through the squares, beaches, gardens, and churchyards of these parishes in the 1960s. Even today, the older generation remembers these as the puppets of their childhood.

Let’s ask our grandparents if they still remember the Robertos!

S.A.Marionetas – Teatro & Bonecos

A professional puppet theater creation structure made up of authors, builders and puppeteers who have been producing originals in Portuguese with the aim of promoting and disseminating puppet theater since 1997. From this perspective, their work involves research and the search for new aesthetic solutions, as well as the preservation of Portuguese popular tradition through research and continuity in the realization of Teatro D. Roberto. In both cases, it favors traveling shows as the best way to spread the art of puppetry.

Since 1998, the company has organized the Puppet Theatre Festival “Marionetas na Cidade” in Alcobaça, where it is based. Since 2015, the festival has been awarded the “EFFE Label”. He has taken part in festivals in Portugal and represented the country in Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, the UK, Italy, the Czech Republic, China, Slovakia, Macau, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, South Korea, Angola, Tunisia, Turkey, São Tomé, Austria, Iran, Thailand, Russia, Timor, the USA, Brazil, etc. Since 1997 he has created 57 original productions with more than 2,800 performances. In 2005 he was awarded the “Troféu Afonso Lopes Vieira” prize for cultural merit in the arts and entertainment. He has received 15 international and national awards and several nominations and commendations for his work. He has produced and co-produced operas, ballets, theater, cinema and television, always with puppets.

art

links

• facebook.com/samarionetasteatroebonecos
• instagram.com/samarionetas
• samarionetas.com
• youtube.com/@samarionetas

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