PARAÍSO: Adilson

Adilson is an opera in five acts directed by Dino D’Santiago, with libretto by Rui Catalão, commissioned for BoCA — Biennial of Contemporary Arts. This original work follows the journey of a man of African descent, born in Angola to Cape Verdean parents, who has lived in Portugal for over 40 years — without ever obtaining Portuguese citizenship. Called D’afonsa by his friends, Nuno by his family, Adilson on his passport, his life unfolds between waiting rooms, postponed proceedings and a bureaucratic maze that prevents him from being fully recognised by the country where he has always lived.

More than just an individual, Adilson represents thousands of people left on the margins of the system. The opera transforms waiting into poetry and makes invisibility an act of resistance. At the climax of the work, a cry echoes beyond the stage: ‘I am not Portuguese. I am Portugal. A country waiting.’

PARAÍSO Programme

Thursday • 18 September
9:30 p.m. • Cinema • Independência (2015) by Fradique • gnration (free)

Friday • 19 September
6:00 p.m. • Conversas do Paraíso • And after independence? From the struggles for liberation to today’s struggles with Sheila Khan, Tiago Vieira da Silva and Marta Machado, moderated by Marisa Rodrigues (BANTUMEN) • Livraria Centésima Página bookshop (free)

9:30 p.m. • Opera • Adilson, an opera by Dino D’Santiago • Theatro Circo

Saturday • 20 September
10:30 • Guided Tour • Does the Empire Still Live Here? Memories, marks and paths of decolonisation in Braga with Chisoka Simões • various locations around the city (free)

17:00 • Conversations from Paradise • Memories at dusk (How many worlds are there in a library, to give birth to the sun?) with Ruben Zacarias and moderated by Rosa Cabecinhas • gnration (free)

21:30 • Music • Monte Cara Band • gnration

23:00 • Music • Fidju Kitxora • gnration