The tour of Blackface begins

A stage show by Marco Mendonça

ALKANARA - Audience in a dark room watching a film projected on a screen. - ©Lais Pereira — @ Lais Pereira

In 2024, there will be new opportunities to see Blackface. Marco Mendonça's first solo creation returns to the stage, and the beginning of the tour is scheduled for June 6, in Guimarães, at the opening of Festivais Gil Vicente.

6 JUN, 9:30 PM — Centro Cultural Vila Flor, Guimarães
4 - 7 SEP, 7:30 PM — Teatro do Bairro Alto, Lisbon
27 SEP, 9 PM — Teatro Viriato, Viseu
3 OCT, 9:30 PM — Theatro Circo, Braga

Future dates will be announced soon.
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Every year, Alkantara produces a new performance by an emerging artist, to be presented during Alkantara Festival. The next year, we keep producing that show on tour, so it can reach more audiences and places. Blackface, by Marco Mendonça, had its premiere in Teatro do Bairro Alto during Alkantara Festival 2023, in three sold out sessions.

Marco Mendonça’s one-man-show is a musical lecture-performance that shifts between stand-up, satire, documentary theatre, and autobiography. Through images, videos, and comedy sketches, he takes us on a journey through the long and painful history and legacy of blackface.

Blackface – a racist theatrical practice in which performers wear makeup to portray a caricature of a black person – is used to degrade, objectify and dehumanise black people, portraying them as unintelligent, lazy, and untruthful, among other negative attributes.

Historically blackface provided comfort and comic relief for its audiences. Here, it reflects the presence of racism in Portuguese traditions, right up until the present day.

Marco Mendonça

Marco Mendonça was born in Mozambique in 1995 and lives in Lisbon since 2007. He graduated in theatre at the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema. He works regularly with the company Os Possessos. He was a trainee at Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, where he worked with João Pedro Vaz, Tiago Rodrigues and Faustin Linyekula. He was part of shows by Liesbeth Gritter (Kassys), Tonan Quito and Mala Voadora. He debuted as author and co-creator, alongside João Pedro Leal and Eduardo Molina, in "Parlamento Elefante", a project that won the Amélia Rey Colaço scholarship. In...