The Tale of Alabad
In 2002, Nuno Pino Custódio wrote and performed the solo play “O relato de Alabad”, at Teatro Meridional, under the direction of Miguel Seabra. Eighteen years later, at the Teatro Teatral, the author staged the play, in a new revised version that was published in a bilingual brochure, with a Spanish translation by Juan Ramón Santos. This edition was published by ESTE – Estação Teatral, during the commemoration of its 15th anniversary and had a circulation of 500 copies. Books purchased through this page are autographed by the author. Price: €10.00 + shipping.
In 2002, Nuno Pino Custódio wrote and performed the solo play “O relato de Alabad”, at Teatro Meridional, under the direction of Miguel Seabra. Eighteen years later, at the Teatro Teatral, the author staged the play, in a new revised version that was published in a bilingual brochure, with a Spanish translation by Juan Ramón Santos. This edition was published by ESTE – Estação Teatral, during the commemoration of its 15th anniversary and had a circulation of 500 copies. Books purchased through this page are autographed by the author. Price: €10.00 + shipping.
“O Relato de Alabad” was a monologue written and performed by Nuno Pino Custódio, directed by Miguel Seabra, between 2002 and 2003, at Teatro Meridional. In terms of dramaturgical creation, this is also one of the most referenced and charismatic works by the author and director who, in that context, expanded the premises of his methodology in Máscara by becoming aware of those of the Lisbon company. The opportunity to exhibit this work, now in the context of ESTE, brought with it a source of about 20 years of experience in the area of creation, in relation to the original work, which we wanted to reflect in this new version, expanding all its potential and consistency. Even more so when, nowadays, the pertinence of the perspective of observing the “other”, the possibility of considering with attention and respect the “other side” and, even more, the history that is not known is precisely the territory of the theater itself, in its tense, which is the conditional given by the “if”. More than conjecture, it is an emotional and cognitive experience given by immersion.
The play talks about the year 1147 and the defense of Lisbon against Portuguese and Crusaders in transit to the Holy Land (Second Crusade). Starting from western accounts, the point of view of the “other side”, that of the Muslims, is recreated through the chronicle of Alabad bin Muhammad Almançor, archer and poet. Escaped from Santarém (assaulted by the Portuguese months before), Alabad and his brother Youssef are taken in by an uncle from Lisbon, seeking to restart their lives there. But the hope of a happy existence in that thriving and overpopulated city will soon turn into a storm, as Christians arrive at the city’s gates to conquer it (in the defender’s perspective), to claim it (in the invader’s idea). The siege, which will last four long months, will force the inhabitants of Lisbon to live to the limit of their strength, with famine and plague as a backdrop, and they will need to continue to make efforts to repel the enemy.
In the tradition of storytellers and with live musical-sound accompaniment, Alabad unfolds in countless characters and situations, describing and confiding with words and gestures the loss of one of the most important commercial cities of Al-Gharb Al-Andaluz. The reports of witnesses of the same event are already known. Now there’s this one too, coming from the walls of a whitewashed city. As true and as false as the rest that are known…
The play talks about the year 1147 and the defense of Lisbon against Portuguese and Crusaders in transit to the Holy Land (Second Crusade). Starting from western accounts, the point of view of the “other side”, that of the Muslims, is recreated through the chronicle of Alabad bin Muhammad Almançor, archer and poet. Escaped from Santarém (assaulted by the Portuguese months before), Alabad and his brother Youssef are taken in by an uncle from Lisbon, seeking to restart their lives there. But the hope of a happy existence in that thriving and overpopulated city will soon turn into a storm, as Christians arrive at the city’s gates to conquer it (in the defender’s perspective), to claim it (in the invader’s idea). The siege, which will last four long months, will force the inhabitants of Lisbon to live to the limit of their strength, with famine and plague as a backdrop, and they will need to continue to make efforts to repel the enemy.
In the tradition of storytellers and with live musical-sound accompaniment, Alabad unfolds in countless characters and situations, describing and confiding with words and gestures the loss of one of the most important commercial cities of Al-Gharb Al-Andaluz. The reports of witnesses of the same event are already known. Now there’s this one too, coming from the walls of a whitewashed city. As true and as false as the rest that are known…
Technical sheet
Title: The Tale of Alabad / El Testimonio de Alabad
Author: Nuno Pino Custódio
Translator: Juan Ramon Santos
Cover illustrator: Tiago Poiares
Photography: Susana Paiva and Duarte Gonçalves
Design and pagination: Hugo Landeiro D.
April 2021
Printing 500 copies
ISBN 978-989-33-1350-3
Legal Deposit 483349 / 21
Price:
10€
If you are interested in this book, please contact:
geral@npcteatroescola.com
+351 935 038 587
