END OF THE WORLD LIBRARY (Biblioteca do Fim do Mundo) was thought out to be performed in libraries. In a time where the world seems to be on the verge of the apocalypse, a small group of spectators will spend some time with a small group of performers in a journey through some authors such as Ray Bradbury, Matilde Campilho, Homero, Alice Walker, Carolina Maria de Jesus, Ocean Vuong, Virginie Despentes, Clarice Lispector, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Bruno Latour, Ailton Krenak, Caetano Veloso, Warsan Shire, Alberto Manguel, Baptiste Morizot, Svetlana Alexievich, Ana Martins Marques, Umberto Eco, Ursula K. Le Guin, José Saramago. There is not a single story connecting all these names. Instead, parallel conversations that complement each other and yet differ, allowing each audience member to leave with his or her own version of the same experience. This is a show stripped of almost all technical effects, reduced to the most human dimension: a gathering of people around a small source of light, exchanging knowledge. Because, as Joan Didion wrote, “we tell ourselves stories in order to live”.
END OF THE WORLD LIBRARY proposes an evening among the shelves of a library, talking in low voices so as not to wake up those who may have fallen asleep.
concept and artistic direction Alex Cassal creators-performers Alex Cassal, Bruno Huca, Estelle Franco and Keli Freitas guest performers João Caiano, Marta La Piedad, Martim Santos, Tata Regala (Loulé); Gaya de Medeiros, Guilherme Gomes, Rafaela Santos, Roberto Terra, Sónia Barbosa (Viseu); Clélia Colonna, Gaya de Medeiros, João Silvestre, Maria Jorge (Lisbon) dramaturgical support Joana Frazão light design Tomás Ribas exhibition Elsa Mencagli photography João Tuna, Filipe Farinha, Vasco Célio, Tomás Ribas communication Carlos Alves production director Paula Diogo executive producer Henrique Figueiredo and Vanda Cerejo co-production Má-Criação, casaBranca/Festival Verão Azul, Cine-Teatro Louletano co-production residencies Festival Verão Azul 2020 and O Espaço do Tempo partners Biblioteca de Marvila, CML – Polo Cultural Gaivotas | Boavista with the support of André Coelho – Plantação de Medronhos no Parque Natural da Rocha da Pena
institutional partner República Portuguesa – Ministério da Cultura project financed by República Portuguesa – Cultura / Direcção Geral das Artes
Má-Criação is a structure supported by the Lisbon City Council and housed in Alkantara.
OPENING
Festival Verão Azul / Biblioteca Municipal Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Loulé PT, November 2021
TOUR
Teatro Viriato / Biblioteca Municipal de Viseu, Viseu PT, May 2022
5L Festival Internacional de Literatura e Língua Portuguesa, Lisbon PT, May 2023