Teatro Umano presents play featuring 56 migrant women in Portugal

Teatro Umano is staging a documentary theater piece called "Maria-Mundu" featuring 56 women who migrated to Portugal.

The performance takes place at the Municipal Ruy de Carvalho auditorium in Carnaxide, a municipality in the Oeiras district. The actresses, who are between 64 and 94 years old, share their personal histories of moving to Portugal to escape hunger and war. The participants are part of a municipal project called "As Marias," which supports women who were relocated to the Outurela neighborhood.

While many of these women came from countries such as Cabo Verde, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau, some also moved from regions within Portugal like Minho and Alentejo. These women worked in precarious conditions with few social rights, which impacted their lives as they aged. The play depicts their journey from arriving in degraded neighborhoods to establishing homes and raising families.

Director Rita Wengorovius describes the production as a tribute to the resilience of migrant women who built lives and communities in a new country. The performance explores their transitions from living in tents to brick buildings and their current lives participating in activities like sewing, swimming, and capoeira.