Mar ~ Marionetas | Espinho International Puppet Festival

Mar~Marionetas - Festival Internacional de Marionetas de Espinho 2026

The Ancient Olive Tree [ SHOW ]

• Teatro e Marionetas de Mandrágora
• M/8 . 45mins . 5€
• booking > musica-esp.pt/auditorio-de-espinho-academia/programacao-bilheteira/686/a-oliveira-milenar-teatro-e-marionetas-de-mandragora/bilhetes/1310


• There is the individual pain of that family, and there is a supposed collective progress in the construction of a road that connects two points once far apart. To the road builders, this house is an anonymous space. For those who dwell within, the house is their home; it is the road that will be the anonymous space.
  This story is cyclical and provokes abyssal disconnects. I experience something one way and cannot understand the way you feel it. There are many forces of power that manipulate actions and open the door to dehumanization.
  The ancient olive tree possesses an apparent immobility and deep-seated roots in the face of changes in space and time—the birth of the yellow house, the passing or the permanence of people. The feminine universe is the center; there are ailments one tries to cure in women, such as double vision. When we uproot a plant, we see the roots, the interruption. Even with the root of a tooth: in the root remains the absence of what was once whole. What is that absence in a rootless person?
  The narrative is presented through the Ancient Olive Tree, with characters constantly encroaching upon one another, like someone wanting to better tell their point of view, attempting to capture the polyphony of the novel. We all have many voices in our heads—our own, those of others, and their opposites. And these voices tend to be contradictory.
  There are non-linear advances and retreats, and a plunge into the unconscious and madness, between the real—is reality merely each person's hallucination?—and the unreal. We dance between the exterior and the interior. On one hand, the external concrete (even in its double meaning, that of cement); on the other, the emotional and internal reverie within the minds of that family. They move between sleep, dream, wakefulness, and a reality difficult to comprehend. With emotional breadths: moments of celebration, of intense joy, moments in which one loves and in which one hurts. Things break, they shatter; objects and illusions are splintered. One seeks a primary tenderness, the root to which to return.


• based on the novel “Escavadoras” by Marta Pais Oliveira

The Ancient Olive Tree

A yellow house was built on a hill that stretches as far as the eye can see, and the family living inside is threatened by the construction of a road. There is a space beginning to be gutted by some dust of infinitesimal hope — which is what keeps us going, despite the horror.

In this house, everyone sees the same thing in very different ways. And that pulls them apart — yet also brings them together.

It is a place of contrasts. Love gives way to desolation; the snowfall gives way to fire.

Teatro e Marionetas de Mandrágora

Teatro e Marionetas de Mandrágora is a professional puppet theater company with artistic direction by Clara Ribeiro and Filipa Mesquita and art direction by enVide neFelibata. The company was founded on April 2, 2002. In the symbiosis of a symbolic language that combines heritage and traditional legacy with contemporary society's thought and dynamics, often in a not-so-peaceful dialogue, a fundamental element emerges: the puppet. This element supports us in the search for our own cultural identity.

Our goal is to discover the aesthetic, visual, scenic, and dramatic potential of the puppet itself, as well as in its relationship with the actor, and in this discovery, explore the dramaturgy that characterizes us: to explore culture, belief, and legend allied with the city, technological exploration, and the speed of the global village. Throughout our artistic journey, we have presented various proposals to different audiences, including adults, youth, school, and family groups, as well as in basic and specialized training. One of our major commitments is the national and international tour of our projects. Decentralization, community work, partnership creation, and social and inclusive value are predominant concerns in our daily activities.

Over these couple decades, we have established the company as a contemporary artistic creation structure through dozens of show proposals presented nationally and internationally, whether they are our own creations or collaborations with other national and international cultural structures and entities. Our premise is to provide space for the creative freedom of our artistic team, ensuring the existence within the structure of various languages and diverse visions that unite in the common goal of developing the art of puppet theater. Reflection on social fragility issues and a keen eye on traditions and heritage form the basis of the Company's dramaturgy, consolidated in distinct yet simultaneously convergent perspectives.

Dialogue with diverse audiences and the involvement of creation in different contexts and spaces, as well as the intersection between entities and structures, is fundamental, creating multidisciplinary proposals aimed mainly at artistic communication with audiences. Noteworthy is our collaboration with numerous educational services in the implementation of activities in institutions such as monuments, museums, and heritage buildings.

art

links

• ei.marionetasmandragora.pt
• loja.marionetasmandragora.pt
• marionetasmandragora.pt
• facebook.com/marionetas.mandragora
• instagram.com/marionetas_mandragora
• youtube.com/@MarionetasMandragora

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