Aspectos do teatro popular de Valongo: as Papeladas

Abstract

Papeladas is the term used to designate the popular theatre performed in Valongo (Oporto region, Portugal) which goes back to the end of the 19th century or beginnings of the 20th century. It still persists nowadays in the memory of the locals who are more devoted to the region’s cultural traditions and the community’s cultural practice (through a local association). This patrimony in motion, simultaneously familiar and communitarian, was born from the migrant impulse of a popular poet – a Fozcôa – that carried (in)signifi cant texts and scattered texts in his luggage. This seminal production would win over both Valongo and the foreigners who came to town to attend the «papeladas » and was to leave a deep imprint on their multifarious artistic expression. The simplicity and swiftness of the plot, the scarcity of the staging resources, the concrete contours of both characters and dialogues, the charming satirical humour and the historical portraits provided are just some of the key-features of a theatrical craft that seeks to fi nd its place in modern society, an ultra-mediatic and global society that attempts to fi ll in the gaps exposed by the present crisis with the most prominent cultural identity elements from each region.