Artistas Unidos May End
Tuesday, 24 December 2002

Joana Gorjão Henriques

When the run of Brecht's "Baal" is concluded, in May, Artistas Unidos will probably end, said yesterday Jorge Silva Melo after a meeting with the Secretary of State for Culture José Amaral Lopes.

Amaral Lopes told Silva Melo that Artistas Unidos (AU) won't go to the OGMEE building in Belém, where they were supposed to move to in January - the City Council had made the commitment to pay for the reconstruction works of the space.

AU would stay at OGMEE for two years, but the Councillor for Culture, Maria Manuel Barbosa, said that the budget for the works in that building (which is not owned by the Council) largely surpassed expectations and there was no point in investing in a provisional space. The Council is now looking for an alternative, which will only be disclosed in a month's time.

A Council assistant told AU that they would be able to stay there "for a while longer". "That, however, doesn't solve the problem", says Silva Melo. The fact is that there are no conditions to rehearse "Baal" there (with 22 actors), there are no bathrooms, the set cannot be built and the electric system doesn't work. "I've never had working conditions as bad as these, not even when I was 18", he says.

Despite Amaral Lopes' stated interest in the project for an Arts Centre at A Capital, nothing is decided: "Without prospects", there are no conditions to work, says Silva Melo, underling the fact that the works at A Capital (from which they were evicted in the end of August, along with other groups for which the director acts as spokesman) haven't started yet.

A Capital was closed down, without warning, after the detection of structural problems. "We have showed the greatest recognition for the work developed by AU", says the Councillor. And she adds: "No production was cancelled. The Council payed for the venues, supported promotion and advertising. They will have to more productions at São Luiz, a Council theatre. Either there is mutual recognition or we feel like giving up."

Silva Melo adds: "If I were told in September that I was going to stay here, I wouldn't have started to rehearse "Baal". No matter how many efforts were made, I was lied to. The Council doesn't have an obligation to find me a venue. But it promised to do so: I made management choices based on that promise. I could have spent the subsidy with the rent of a decent venue where to rehearse and then put an end to AU."

AU director says this is what he's going to do: he's looking for a room where to rehearse "Baal" - the opening is scheduled for March 7 in Viseu.