Portuguese director Pedro Sousa Loureiro created the play "Magnetic Grandmother," inspired by his grandmother Margarida, which will be presented on September 10th at Sala Valentim de Barros, at the Bombarda Gardens, in Lisbon, as part of the TODOS Festival. The idea emerged during documentary theater classes in his master's program in directing in Brussels, when he decided to use his family "superheroine" as inspiration for a theatrical text.
The play features Pedro and other actors alongside their own grandmothers, portraying heroines endowed with the superpowers of understanding and acceptance. The play questions whether today's society is becoming more conservative, based on Pedro's personal experience: during the years he lived with his grandmother Margarida in Sacavém, between 2016 and 2021, he went through the gay "coming out" process, and his grandmother accepted him naturally and unconditionally, without the need for direct conversations about the matter.
Grandmother Margarida, now 89 years old and living in a care home in Oliveira do Hospital, was born in Tibaldinho, Mangualde, and dedicated her life to work: first she sold milk door to door and later had a fruit and vegetable stall at República Square, in Lisbon. Pedro keeps daily contact with her by phone and shows her videos of the play during his visits to the care home. The atmosphere of street markets is brought to the stage, in a production that interacts with the audience.
"Magnetic Grandmother" is the second part of a trilogy about Pedro's queer journey, following "Long Summer Dreams" (2024). The play has already been presented at Teatro Ibérico and in Fafe and Ponte do Lima, and the September 10th performance is sold out. Pedro, 36 years old, from Coimbra, studied at the School of Theater and Film in Amadora and co-wrote the play with his friend Miguel Stichini.
