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

Heir to the pioneering work of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music — awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2018 — the orchestra stands as a symbol of cultural resistance, promoting diversity and gender equality, causes that made it a target of persecution in its country of origin.

Founded by Ahmed Sarmast and conducted by Tiago Moreira Da Silva, the Afghan Youth Orchestra combines Afghan and Western instruments in a repertoire that blends tradition and modernity. This concert is part of an international tour that has already taken in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Beethoven Festival in Bonn and the United Nations in Geneva. A unique moment, where every note is an expression of freedom, identity and the future.

Composed of 53 melodic fragments, In C invites performers to engage in a constant and surprising dialogue, proposing a hypnotic game of repetitions, overlaps and variations, in a fascinating balance between structure and freedom. The result is a constantly changing soundscape, where each performance is unpredictable and engaging.

Influential to composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Adams, Terry Riley’s In C remains as challenging and vibrant today as it was six decades ago. Thus, in this celebration, the audience is invited to immerse themselves in a musical experience exploring the delicate contours between score and improvisation.

Contraponto is a cycle dedicated to 20th and 21st century composition, where we invite local, national and international ensembles and composers to guide us through the music of one of the most fertile periods in terms of new ideas and forms.

Narrated by Bruno Ganz, Naquele Dia em Lisboa is a visual meditation on memory, time and invisibility, now expanded with a new edit and original soundtrack by Herbert. Known for transforming everyday sounds into captivating electronic compositions, the British artist creates a soundscape that amplifies the emotions of the images, giving voice to the streets, gestures and ghosts of that day suspended in time. A sensory experience where past and present intersect in a moving encounter.

This central interpretation is complemented by artistic layers that amplify the poetic delirium: the original music of Márcio Décio and João Figueiredo, which sculpts unexpected soundscapes, and the disturbing films of Edgar Pêra, whose shocking images and strong visual component expand the futuristic and mutating universe of Campos. This show is a contradiction in constant dialogue, a fusion of poetry, music and cinema that continually comments on and portrays itself. Cavalgada de Mil Amperes is a total immersion in excess, where poetry ignites, leaving everything on display on stage.

A pioneer of “extended vocal technique” and “interdisciplinary performance”, Meredith Monk transcends genres as a composer, singer and creator. This rare solo concert format will allow for a deep exploration of the countless possibilities of the human voice, a hallmark of her work celebrated in the world’s greatest venues. Recognised with the highest honours in the United States, including the National Medal of Arts, Monk consolidates her position as an essential figure in the arts. An unmissable sound experience, revealing the genius of one of the most important living artists.

The Zona Franca cycle welcomes Está Visto (2023), a show resulting from a collaboration between João dos Santos Martins, pianist and composer Joana Sá, and visual artist Ana Jotta. Based on the song cycle Dichterliebe [Poet’s Love(s)], composed by Robert Schumann in 1840, the piece is presented in recital format, seeking to have the practices of singing, piano and dance interact and overflow into one another. The romantic songs, with poetry by Heinrich Heine, speak of unrequited love. This lack of reciprocity is reproduced in choreographic ideas that disarticulate language, fracturing gesture with the lyrics of the songs, sound and listening in a body in transition.

Three groups aged between 15 and 18, gathered in Braga (Theatro Circo), Viseu (Teatro Viriato) and Lisbon (Culturgest), are invited to embark on a co-creation experience of this participatory project, outside the school environment, designed so that each group can experience the process equally. Thus, between November 2025 and April 2026, there will be weekly writing and reflection meetings, interspersed with intensive moments of co-creation, using words and sound as tools for personal and social transformation, with artistic curation by rapper Xullaji. In Braga, the process will be mediated by local musician Tiago Sampaio.

Finally, in April 2026, all routes will converge in Lisbon, the host city for this edition, where each group will present the results of their work, reflecting the uniqueness of their journey and maintaining the cohesion of a project that celebrates collective creativity.

Project phases

25 October – Workshop with Xullaji and Tiago Sampaio
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

12 and 13 December – Writing Workshop with Xullaji and Tiago Sampaio*
Friday 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

3 November to 18 April – Music Creation Workshops with Tiago Sampaio*

Mondays 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Would you like to be part of this project? Write to us at participacao@theatrocirco.com

*The project can include a maximum of 10 participants. If the number of submissions exceeds capacity, registrations will be reviewed by the team and the group will be formed taking into account the diversity of instruments proposed and respecting the principle of geographical, social and economic representation.

Considered an essential platform for the celebration of digital art and the promotion of exploratory electronic music in northern Portugal, the Semibreve programme includes workshops, artistic commissions, installations and performances spread across various historical and cultural landmarks in Braga, such as the Igreja dos Congregados, the Capela Imaculada, the Theatro Circo and gnration. For its 15th edition, the festival will feature names such as aya, emptyset, Ava Rasti, Actress (Darren J Cunningham), Suzanne Ciani, Lucy Railton, Rebecca Salvadori, Charlie Hope, Heinali, Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko and many more. gnration will once again host the festival’s exhibition programme, as well as dance nights with the clubbing programme.