From childhood to the first day of the media trial, José Sócrates’ life serves as inspiration for a musical comedy. “Mr. Engenheiro, allegedly a musical” premieres on April 1, April Fools’ Day, at the Tivoli BBVA Theater, in Lisbon.
This is a “satire” and a “farce” in relation to the “public facts about the life of the engineer”, one of the defendants in Operation Marquês, account to Express Henrique Dias, author of the libretto, a production costing 600 thousand euros, which has a cast of 40 people, including actors, singers and musicians.
Manuel Marques plays the former prime minister and, like Sócrates, the actor also faces legal proceedings, after being accused of domestic violence by his daughter. This is not the first time that the actor has played the role of the former head of government, he had already done so in the series Owners of This All, from RTP.
“Its sole objective is to make the audience laugh for an hour and a half”says the screenwriter, who had the idea two years ago. “I was watching a news story about the case and I remembered that it would be comical to make humor about such a serious subject,” remember
Paulo Dias, from the production company Uau, promises to surprise the public with a “super production”. “We are taking great care with the sets and costumes and we can guarantee that the public will be surprised”, he tells the weekly.
José Sócrates was not consulted during the preparation of the play, which took a year to write. The former prime minister will, however, be invited to watch the musical.
“The play does not make value judgments about the culpability of those involved. In Portugal, freedom of creation is a constitutional right”, says Henrique Dias, author of Sunseta comedy series that was broadcast on RTP. “The tone of this piece is similar, as it is a farce. It doesn’t have a revising tone, it’s different”, he states.
Written by Henrique Dias, directed by Rui Melo and music by Artur Guimarães, this musical comedy will be on stage for around a month and a half at the Tivoli BBVA, in Lisbon, before being on stage at the Coliseu do Porto, between the 14th and 17th of May. Tickets will go on sale from Monday (November 24).