Mar ~ Marionetas | Espinho International Puppet Festival

Mar~Marionetas - Festival Internacional de Marionetas de Espinho 2026

The Eternal Boy [ SHOW ]

• Fio d’Azeite – Marionetas do Chão de Oliva < Sintra
• M/6 . 55mins . free access

The Eternal Boy

“The Eternal Boy” is a puppet theater production based on a text by José Jorge Letria. Blending various artistic and multimedia forms through a play of light, shadow, and animation, it transports children and adults alike to a fantasy world filled with timeless symbols and values. The characters embody a naturalistic wisdom, encouraging an appreciation for the little things and a spirit of contemplation.

“The Eternal Boy” is a tribute to the magic of childhood, friendship, solidarity, the importance of Nature and its elements, respect for others, and, in particular, for the elderly and their wisdom.

Fio d’Azeite – Marionetas do Chão de Oliva

Fio D'Azeite was formed in 1992, based on a project to raise awareness of puppets and animated forms carried out in 1989 by the Chão de Oliva Cultural Association and guided, through courses on construction and manipulation, by José Carlos Barros, a leading figure in puppet theatre and animated forms in Portugal, and also by José Ramalho.

From the outset, the group's activity has been characterized, on a technical level, by its mastery of the traditional languages of the “art of puppetry” and the search for new formal solutions for this ancient theatrical expression; in terms of themes, the revisiting of timeless tales, both from oral and written tradition, as well as texts by authors who reveal themselves as a source of pleasure and accomplices of restlessness (since we do not understand the emergence of new forms without the profound stimulus of content), in a work of research where the figure, the image—in short, the plastic form—and the texts take on new meanings.

Throughout its activity — particularly in the last five years — an audience has been created, both through the shows on stage and through countless visits to schools, communities, street initiatives, festivals, etc. In addition, and always with a view to consolidating and expanding audiences rather than a specific type of audience, we have developed awareness-raising activities on puppets through short lectures and seminars on construction and manipulation, aimed at both the general public and educators.

In this journey, we try never to confuse the themes to be addressed—which until now have favoured an imaginary linked to childhood, but with a projection beyond time and age groups—with techniques: here our concern is, beyond the learning of classical knowledge, aesthetic research into the artistic concerns of our time. In this search, we will continue to take into account multidisciplinarity; the valorization of image and movement; the parity of visual elements, as well as the extension to other arts, such as theatre, music, and dance, in a dynamic and attentive research of contemporary living arts.

art

links

• chaodeoliva.com
• facebook.com/chaodeoliva
• instagram.com/chaodeoliva
• linkedin.com/company/chaodeoliva
• youtube.com/user/chaodeoliva

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