The Almada Theater Company presents the play "A more-than-perfect farewell" by Peter Handke, directed by Teresa Gafeira. The performance takes place on September 23 at 9:30 PM, at the Teatro das Beiras (Auditório Fernando Landeira), within the "Wednesday theater" series, which returns after a pause. The show lasts 60 minutes and is intended for audiences over 14 years old.
Peter Handke's mother committed suicide when he was 51 years old. The Austrian writer wrote "A more-than-perfect farewell" over two months in the winter of 1972 as a way of dealing with this trauma. The play is a journey through his family's history, including the harsh life of his grandparents in the countryside, his mother's determination to escape that oppressive world, an abusive marriage, and the loneliness she felt. Handke's mother's story simultaneously represents the history of Central Europe, having witnessed the rise of Nazism, crossed through World War II, and lived through the austerity that followed.
Two actors give voice to Peter Handke's concerns: Duarte Guimarães and Pedro Walter. The text was originally a novel, but Teresa Gafeira immediately wanted to bring it to the stage. According to the director, the conflict exists between the individual who, in principle, has the conditions to develop to their full potential and the circumstances that annul them until they lead to suicide. The play premiered at the Festival de Almada.
After the premiere, Spanish critic Afonso Becerra wrote that Handke writes to alleviate the pain but does not succeed, trying to describe his mother and get closer to her, but also without success. He highlighted the dramatic tension of the text, which is not directly dramatic, but a novel adapted for the theater, characterized by the search for the mother, the extremely difficult approach, and the unvarnished description of the terrible and the excruciating pain. Tickets are available at the Teatro das Beiras and Ticketline.
