Luís de Lima em Portugal antes do 25 de Abril

Abstract

Luís de Lima (1925‑2002), among several pioneer achievements, was one of the first directors to stage the work of Eugène Ionesco in Brazil and Portugal, playing a fundamental role in the development of theater in the two countries in the second half of the twentieth century. The present text describes and analyzes the theatrical trajectory of Luís de Lima in Portugal before April 25th, after the presentation of the Ionesco Festival in Lisbon in 1959, and of the presentations that he directed in the theater groups of Porto (1959‑1960), Coimbra (1961‑1962, 1969) and Lisbon (1967), considering in particular his proposals for staging and the context of theatrical production of the period. The goal is to emphasize the importance of the artist’s contributions to the history of Portuguese theater at a time when the dramatic art produced in the country sought scenic renewal and faced the impediments of censorship.