Version of Ildeberto Gama, from Contos para a Infância (Stories for Childhood), of Guerra Junqueiro, Typographia Universal edition, Lisbon, 1877.

As a starting point, the work process for this play has some texts dedicated to childhood published in 1877 by Guerra Junqueiro, a poet pamphleteer
whose poetry helped to create the revolutionary environment that would lead to the establishment of the Republic on 5 October 1910. Guerra Junqueiro was part of the so-called 70’s Generation that purported to want to make Portugal beat to the rhythm of European modernity, with the matters of an educational, teaching and academic nature not being forgotten, and the publication of Contos para a Infância constitutes his positive contribution to «Primary Education». Junqueiro understood and conveyed the need to invest in the childhood universe through a fun and libertarian education that harmonises children with nature, awakening their senses without sterilising their free and creative spirit.

Thus, in a period in which we live under the spectrum of the degradation of the basic conditions of vast layers of the population – and childhood, in its natural fragility, is in the front line of those who suffer the consequences – it makes
perfect sense for us to address these matters with the care that we are obliged to put into all projects. To emphasise the aforementioned aspects, knowing that the puppet is a privileged instrument for communication with children, we have chosen the Shadow Theatre. It is a technique that has the capability of captivating and interacting with children, whilst maintaining openness for an intergenerational environment that, from our point of view, is the ideal situation for the development of their cognitive capacities and growth.
A Narrator tells two of the stories of Guerra Junqueiro. He is in a frontal position facing the audience and behind him, above his head, there is a screen. He does the presentation, he introduces the characters and he describes the context of the action narrated in indirect discourse. Whenever he moves onto direct discourse, he manipulates small figures cut over the glass of an overhead projector that is in front of him and that are projected onto the aforementioned screen. He has the help of a technician sat beside him who passes him the shadows and plays musical separators that emphasise the action and help in the passing of the narration onto the direct discourse.
The narration/action concludes with the traditional exclamation: “Victory! Victory, that’s the end of the story”.