WHEN I WAS PORTUGUESE

Back Stage At The National Theatre

Nathan Lively transports us to behind the curtain at the National Theatre of Portugal, where we witness the inner lives of five veteran actresses navigating the final days of a Broadway-style production. This audio installation offers an intimate glimpse into the theatre’s backstage energy and five individual lives. The end result is an avant-garde narrative and sound experience.

What you see onstage at the theatre is not necessarily the most entertaining part. There is another show being performed offstage by the cast and crew surrounding each performance. In this surround sound installation, Nathan Lively takes us backstage at the National Theatre Of Portugal (Teatro Dona Maria II) as a fly on the wall during the final performances of a 2005 production on the main stage. In this unique perspective of the life of a Portuguese theatre, you will hear each actor move around you as they travel from make-up to sound check to curtain call.

Sound Designer Nathan Lively lived in Lisbon 2003-2007. His first production at Teatro Dona Maria II put him in contact with six experienced actresses performing a Paula Vogel play, which won a Golden Globe for Best Production. Set in NYC in 1981, the play portrays six women struggling to hold onto values of a dying way of life. At once charismatic, arrogant, and pitiful, they tell the story of modernization on and off the stage.

WHAT: WHEN I WAS PORTUGUESE - A Sound Installation By Nathan Lively

WHEN: April 29, 2011 ~ 8pm-11pm (Come at 8pm to hear the installation in its entirety in relative quiet)

WHERE: ZUGHAUS Gallery, 1306 Third ST, Berkeley, CA (at Gilman & Third)

RSVP: Facebook


ZUGHAUS Gallery is located in a warehouse originally used by Peter Voulkos as a ceramics studio and later converted to a woodshop, artist studios, and lofts. The studios and lofts are home to artists of all kinds including painters, sculptors, musicians, photographers, and writers. ZUGHAUS has been hosting art openings the Last Friday of every month for over two years. All events are free of charge and open to the public. Visit http://zughausgallery.blogspot.com/ for more info.

PARKING available at Gilman Grill, 1300 4th Street Berkeley, CA 94710-1304