Physical Theater Company based in Lisbon, created by the hands of actress and stage director Joana Pupo, actress and acrobat Pepa Macua and producer Catarina Sobral. Its mission is to create artistic proposals through art, pedagogy and the exchange of experiences and languages. Collaborates with artists of various nationalities and assumes a strong international commitment.

Develops, since the end of 2018, the continuous physical training for actores and dancers, The Invisible Body; In 2019, it developed the “Physical Theater Laboratory for Young People in Alert”, in partnership with the Parish Council of Arroios and the Library of São Lázaro;

Two years ago, Pepa and Pupo started a partnership with The Invisible Body, meeting of practices whose principle is the Research-Training-Creation triad and is based on a strong exploration of the body and attention. From the beginning, they work on the integration of their theatrical training methods: Pepa deepens the fiction integrated into the language of acrobatics and inverted balances; Pupo continues her search to link the body, through movement and the Suzuki Method, in the service of a fiction.

In 2020/21, the joint work focuses on the sphere of creation, where they conduct their research on the experience of rooting and migration, for the production of THE GRAVITY OF A BIRD, premiered in September 2021 at Teatro da Cerca de São Bernardo.

In 2021/22, the company develops the creative project:
EVERY BRILLIANT THING, with Joana Pupo and Jaime Mears, a theatrical project that aims to establish a bridge between art and mental health, with a special focus on adolescence;

In 2022/23, the company develops the third creation:
ESSAY FOR DISORDER, with Pepa Macua and Juan Fresina Scotto, a work focused on the specific languages of physical theater and contemporary circus, at the intersection of science.

Team

Joana Pupo
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Pepa Macua
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Catarina Sobral
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In collaboration with

Ana Limpinho 

Bachelor’s Degree in Plastic Performance by the Superior School of Theater and Cinema, 1999; Degree in Scene Design by ESTC, 2008.
As set designer and/or costume designer, she collaborated with Teatro do Montemuro (staged by Graeme Pulleyn, Abel Neves, Paulo Duarte, Peter Cann, Gil Nave, Steve Johnstone and José Carretas), Teatro Meridional (staged by Miguel Seabra) and Comédias do Minho (directions by João Pedro Vaz and Tânia Almeida) and with the directors André Amálio, Cláudia Chéu, Cristina Carvalhal, Francisco Salgado, Gonçalo Amorim, Hugo Sovelas, Joana Furtado, Jorge Listopad, Luís Gaspar, Luca Aprea, Nuno Nunes, Maria João Miguel, Miguel Sopas, Pedro Lacerda, Rute Rocha, Sónia Aragão, Sónia Barbosa and Tónan Quito.
Scenographic implementation for the project Entre Margens – Douro em Imagens, from 2011 to 2013, and Flâneur – New Urban Narratives, developed in eleven European cities from 2015 to 2017, dir. Nuno Ricou Salgado/ Search art. Coordination of the assembly of the Parallel Review photography exhibition, prod. Search for art, 2019.

Ana Woolf  ←

Graduated from the Buenos Aires School of Dramatic Art, specialization in Theatrical Anthropology with Eugénio Barba, Odin Teatret (Denmark) and through the I.S.T.A., (International School of Theater Anthropology).
Is part of the staff of international collaborators at Odin Teatret and is an artist-in-residence at Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium. She was Barba’s assistant in the international creation projects: Ur-Hamlet; The marriage of Medea; La vida chronicle and Si el grano no muere. She highlights her work with Julia Varley, in: “Semillas de Memoria” and “Blanca es la Noche”. Assistant Director of XV I.S.T.A.: The Actor’s Know-How, 2017. With ISTA, she travels frequently as a trainer in Europe, Asia and Latin America. She developed her personal training based on oriental techniques and Latin American rhythms.
Coordinates the L.A.T. (Laboratory of Theatrical Anthropology) in the city of Santa Fé (Argentina), a project that was born 7 years ago in collaboration with Teatro Municipal. Coordinator of Red Magdalena 2da Generación, Latin American Network of Women Artists, branch of the Magdalena Project (UK) in Argentina. She directs and collaborates with several companies, internationally, from France, Italy, Denmark, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, among others.

Eduarda Lima  

Advanced Illustration Seminar, Ar.Co. Lisbon. Master in Graphic Moving Image, London College of Communication, London. Degree in Architecture from UCL, London. She currently works as a freelance illustrator and animator, having recently published her first illustrated album with the publisher Orfeu Negro.

Jaime Mears 

Born in Australia, has been working professionally in Theatre, Film and Television in Australia and Portugal since 1999. She is licensed by the National Institute of Dramatic Art. NIDA in Sydney. In 2007, Jaime received the Churchill Fellowship for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts, which took her to Paris, New York and the UK to continue her training with Philippe Gaulier, Anne Bogart and the SITI Company, Keith Johnstone and Complicité.
She is a member of the SITI Extended Ensemble and trained with members of the Suzuki Company of Toga. She has taught Bouffon in the UK, Russia, Australia, Hungary and Denmark, as well as in Portugal, where she works regularly for theater schools such as ESMAE, ESTAL, Evoé – Escola de Actores and Inimpetus. Jaime is co-artistic director of Teatro Rei Sem Roupa, Portugal, and works as an actress for Companhia Caótica and Mente do Cão in Lisbon. She has been working as a hospital clown for Operation Red Nose since 2018.

Juan Fresina Scotto  ← 

Argentinian scenic artist and teacher, specialized in Contemporary Circus. In 2010, he obtained his higher education degree as a Physical Education Teacher from the Dr. Jorge E. Coll Institute, Mendoza (AR). His nomadic and multicultural quest for improvement led him to develop his career in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Scotland and Germany. Among the most relevant formations, he was artist-in-residence, during 2014, at the Escola Nacional de Circo in Rio de Janeiro (BR). In 2016, he held the third year of professional insertion at Scuola di Circo Flic (IT). In 2017, he held the third year of Professional Insertion at Le Lido, Center des Arts du Cirque de Toulouse (FR).
Among his creations, he highlights: “Fragiles”, a work directed in Mendoza, Argentina (2017); “We are not ready”, creation show with students from Salto Circus School in Portugal (2018). He created and performed “Qua” contemporary circus play and “Poste Vacant” (2017), a show within the framework of the formation of Le Lido. Also in France, he performed at various festivals such as Avignon, Circa, Bonnefoy, among others.
He has been working as a teacher since the beginning of his career and in training he explores the triangle Creation – Techniques – Investigation. After a creative process in Argentina, he traveled again to Portugal to continue the development of “2° Movimiento”, a work he interprets and directs (2020).
In 2021, he was invited by the Vaca Magra (Lisbon) to be part of the creation in residence of “Projecto Suigeneris”.

Mafalda Oliveira 

Develops light design work, sound design and technical direction since 2000 with various festivals/companies/associations (theatre, music and contemporary dance) and plastic artists (exhibition/performance/site-specific), including Marionetas de Mandrágora, Teatro do Screen, Marionet, Martim Pedroso, Filipa Francisco, Elsa Aleluia, Tiago Guedes, Al-Teatro, Festival Materials Divers, João Fiadeiro, Cláudia Dias, Inês Jacques, Tânia Carvalho, Linha de Fuga Festival, Baal_17, Festival Noites na Nora, Festival Temps ‘Images, Teatro das Beiras, MAFIA, Teatro da Rainha, Carlota Lagido, Francisco Camacho, Catarina Saraiva, Jorge Santos, Teatro do Morcego and Companhia da Chanca. In the field of photography, she published Papel Parede – urban object in rural space (2009) and EFFE Europe for festivals for Europe (2015) and held the solo exhibition Terceiro Elemento, at ODD, in Coimbra (2016).

Fotografia de Marcos Aganju
Marcos Aganju 

Interdisciplinary artist, musician, performer and educator. He moves along several artistic lines with a special interest in sound, music production and investigation of the arts of the body.
With a background in pedagogy and music production. Creates sound and music for theatre, film, video art, performance and dance.
He went through several countries as a creator/performer and musician such as: Czech Republic, England, Holland, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Uruguay and others.
Lives and works in Lisbon since 2017.

Susana Alves 

I am a cultural mediator and I founded Lugar Específico in 2019, a space where Art and Education intersect, where we create cultural mediation projects.
I like to think that I’ve become an arsonist of ideas, a planter of creativity, a choreographer of thoughts, a community artist. I like working with people, I like contemporary art and I like being present when art invades people’s lives and transforms them.

Tiago Hespanha 

He graduated in architecture in 2004 and took the Course in Directing Documentaries at Ateliers Varan, at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, in 2006. He took the Master en Documental de Creación at the Pompeu Fabra University, in Barcelona, Spain, in 2012. He is a director and producer, founding partner of the film production company TERRATREME FILMES. He has been a directing professor at the DOCNOMADS international master’s degree in documentary, since 2012. He has been a permanent member of ATELIERS VARAN, since 2014 and has collaborated with several artists in different areas, including collaborations in theater and dance creations.
Directed the films: Campo (2019, Doc. 100′) First Look Award at the Locarno Festival 2018, Best Director Award for Portuguese Feature Film – IndieLisboa 2019, María Pitta Award – Cormorán Film Fest’19, On the Naturalists’ Trail – São Tomé, co-directed with Luisa Homem, (2016, Doc. 58′), Industrial Revolution, choreographed with Frederico Lobo (2014, Doc. 72′), Guided Tour (2009, Doc. 54′) Audience Award at the Indielisboa International Film Festival, O Gift that Came from Longe (2008, Doc. 5′ – Integrates the Collection “Tão Perto, So Longe” edited by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation), Despolido I and Despolido II (2007, Exp. 1’+1′) Festival Award Microfilmes de Lisboa), Andar Modelo (2007, Doc. 18′), Quinta da Curraleira (2006, Doc. 22′) First Look Award, Film and Video Meetings by Viana do Castelo.