The 43º Pergine Festival kicks off on July 6 2018 with the theatre show A MANUAL ON WORK AND HAPPINESS, starring a group of 17 citizens from Pergine.

This show is the outcome of a 3-week artistic residency with Portuguese company mala voadora.

Last year, the Pergine Festival hosted the International Seminar on Work and Happiness, an event which included the conference Happiness Calling and a series of workshops and lazyshops. Academics, artists and general audience were encouraged to collectively reflect upon the links between work, leisure and happiness, questioning the status quo and imagining the shape of work in a technological future.

It was based on the input provided during the International Seminar that Jorge Andrade and José Capela, from mala voadora, and Catalan writer Pablo Gisbert then attended a Writing Residency in Arboreto – Teatro di Mora/Mondaino and prepared what would soon become the text of the theatre show.

A Manual on Work and Happiness had its world premiere in Patras (Greece), in March 2018. It was consequently presented in two Portuguese cities, Montijo and Alcobaça, in April and May respectively.

Each one of these performances was preceded by an artistic residency with mala voadora, during which local citizens took part in the creative process and ultimately went on stage as performers.

Pergine is the last stop of a “touring manual”.

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