CHAPEL
“The Cultivation of Plastic Flowers”, by Afonso Cruz, is a powerful text that addresses what remains of the lives of four characters who, now homeless, find shelter in one another. The future thus becomes a distillation of memories and is inherently unpredictable. Re-centering these stories within the Ajuda Palace—amid walls rich and laden with meaning—is undeniably ironic, much like our own short lives can so often be.
Does engaging with these contexts allow us to position ourselves within a happier paradigm? A more dignified one? One that feels more truly our own?
The informal artistic group O Meu Palácio invites the public to attend a staged reading of this text by Afonso Cruz, seeking to place each of these four lives within all of us.
Artistic Direction: Pedro Branco Text: Afonso Cruz Cast: Ana Ferreira Martins, Antoaneta Roman, Carla Costa, Cláudia Oliveira, Cristina Pereira, Cristina Vasconcelos, Gorete Fonseca, Helena Belmonte, Luís Oliveira, Paula Testa, Tomás Patrocínio
Front of House: Educational Service and volunteers of the Ajuda National Palace
Illustration: Beatriz Marcos
Acknowledgements: Afonso Cruz, Beatriz Marcos, Catarina Aidos, and Penguin Random House.