““O Grande Teatro do Mundo” is the culmination of the baroque dramatic poetry. The uniqueness of this work is due to the fact of embodying, better than any other, the aesthetics and poetics of the Baroque; the scenic quality of the archetype piece is representative of the purest and most refined concept of Baroque art in all its fullness and greatness.

The seventeenth century theatrical overflow “should lead to the conscience of all, the feeling that life is itself a representation, that the world is a theatre” (Orozco), and Calderon the architect of this scenic theatrical era: the most symbolic playwright  of the Baroque .

The magical world of Luis de Matos is full of joy and imagination. A world of work and perfection, based on a comprehensive, and yet, efficient team. All figures are challenges, even when there’s simplicity and lightness hidden. Infinite threads of mysteries and fantasy require a permanent alert. The scenery seems not to interfere, it is always what you wish, in order to the magic to unfold.

The pleasure of discovery, the satisfaction of surprise, the tension of vertigo and the cadence of the show are not compatible with hesitations, doubts or uncertainties. The scenario is pure fantasy and illusion is our better reality. “What would the world be without illusion?”

I recall the invitation … some curtains. I thought of fabric … I interpreted the place and refused the idea’s immediacy… I went fishing to other seas … maybe mine…. most architectural  … most physical, focused on solemn and serious subjects as the walls of the Great Hall of the São João National Theatre. Maybe because of this reason, too, it could not have been! In this space designed by Marques da Silva, I thought I would hear old words, texts from other places and someone from behind says, “it’s just utilitarianism, ma’am. What kills us all, kills us all, ma’am.”

Hundreds of meters of steel wire built, like this one, another place of knowledge and light!