WHAT THEY SAY
“For me, Companhia Caótica was one of the most brilliant revelations of 2015. Poemas para bocas pequenas, cocreated by Margarida Mestre and António-Pedro, was a treat of humour and intelligence, a concert of an unexpected indie ambience, very cool and exciting, delightful for all ages. Na barriga, by Caroline Bergeron, is a delicate theatrical poem, a visual ode to the birth of a baby. Educational, unabashed, intelligent, simple and unpretentious: tremendously and subtly effective. But I must confess that my enthusiasm towards Caótica is mainly due to Sopa Nuvem: a gastronomic thriller (winner of the prestigious Momix 2014 award), created by Caroline Bergeron and António-Pedro. Sopa Nuvem is a rare work, honest and sincere. It is also one of those shows that raises an unremarkable question: for whom is the show addressed to: children or their parents? This is not an issue motivated by the confrontation with the same narrative strategies of the Pixar universe, where films are clearly presented to young audiences with subtle and imperceptible winks to their parents... In Sopa Nuvem there is no winking — the entire dramaturgical structure of the show is based on this slippage and complicity among the entire audience, regardless of age. It is, actually, a very powerful and indispensable piece for any age.(...)
Tender, funny, nostalgic, sombre, mixing real-life events with a Borgesian narrative (elliptical and labyrinthine), it’s a piece for all those who have already lost a parent; for those who fear losing a parent; for those who are parents and care about the future; for those who cook for their families; for those who are determined to learn how to cook one day... But it is especially for those who can’t do without a beautiful and unforgettable theatre play. This show makes a hot soup from all the doubts about the future, the loss of role models and the anguish of having to raise children in a perfectly chaotic and scary world. All this, mixing pinches of fear of death with the desire to enjoy life, muddling individualism and seclusion in the domestic space with the need to touch and be touched by the lives of others... There is a very important lesson from this soup: living is neither simple nor easy, but life must be lived, whether we are ready or not."
RUI PINA COELHO / critic and playwright
“What do we think about when we hear that Caótica is celebrating their 10th anniversary? From a thousand fragments expelled from dense memory, ‘emotion and nourishment’ emerge. The four hands of this duo, António-Pedro and Caroline Bergeron, shape imagined space-time blocks that they carefully cut out from life and the world, and then place in an assembly that builds and mediates new ways of being together. They insist on escaping the categories and grids that will never be part of this noble chaos, unless all walls are demolished; they are “stubborn” and “resistant” bodies that discover in art the beam of light to enter in a “house” where the essential human qualities are spread: all that makes us feel closer and more like ourselves. Therefore, we find everything inside: love and loss, joy and heartbreak, affection and anger, shared memories... Caótica’s wise velvet tongs leave nothing — of any life — out."
MADALENA WALLENSTEIN / Coordinator at Fábrica das Artes CCB
"I have been following Caótica closely since its foundation. I emphasize the consistency of their work in the field of artistic creation for children and youth, praised by the public and their peers, proven in the circulation — both nationally and internationally — associated with cultural organizations of reference. I also highlight the social and educational dimension of their work in special projects developed with the community and for the community, often in deprived contexts, as well as the initiative capacity of Companhia Caótica in the organization of events aimed at the artistic community in order to promote reflection, debate and artistic experimentation, sharing resources, concerns and knowledge in order to qualify and give visibility to artistic production for children."
MARIA DE ASSIS / Cultural Programmer and Manager
