The Alpendre Grupo de Teatro will mark fifty years of uninterrupted activity in 2026, celebrating half a century of artistic continuity, cultural resilience, and deep community engagement. The commemorative program includes a series of thematic roundtables devoted to emblematic works from the company’s repertoire, chronological exhibitions featuring historical documents and artifacts, the revival of Uma Hortência para Brianda by Álamo de Oliveira, and the inauguration of a performance hall named after the writer.

“Throughout the year, initiatives will be promoted that both evoke Alpendre’s history and project its future, weaving together tradition and contemporaneity through roundtables, exhibitions, theatrical archives, and symbolic moments of homage,” the group stated in a press release.

Among the highlights of the fiftieth-anniversary celebrations are the Tertúlias às se7e – Textos de Teatro (Seven O’Clock Roundtables – Theatre Texts), dedicated to dramatic works previously staged by the company. The first session will take place in March under the theme Os Sonhos do Infante (The Dreams of the Infante), followed by additional sessions in April, October, and November, with themes to be announced.

Each roundtable will be accompanied by a documentary exhibition featuring posters, photographs, costumes, and other archival materials, intended to honor the memory and artistic labor of those who shaped the group’s legacy.

In 2026, Alpendre will also revive Uma Hortência para Brianda, a play written in 1981 by Álamo de Oliveira, the group’s founder and a seminal figure in Azorean dramaturgy. “This initiative seeks to honor the author and revisit an emblematic work that marked the history of regional theatre, reaffirming Alpendre’s commitment to artistic creation and cultural memory,” the group emphasized.

The anniversary celebrations will culminate on December 27, 2026, with a commemorative ceremony that brings the program to a close. “This symbolic moment aims to gather the artistic community, former and current members of Alpendre, institutional partners, and the general public in a collective celebration of history, continuity, and cultural commitment that have defined five decades of uninterrupted activity,” the group noted.

During the ceremony, a performance space named after Álamo de Oliveira will be officially inaugurated. The event will also feature personal testimonies, audiovisual presentations, and artistic interventions.

“With this program, Alpendre Grupo de Teatro celebrates fifty years of uninterrupted activity, reaffirming its role as a space of creation, memory, and encounter within the Azorean community. More than a commemoration of the past, these initiatives project the future of the group, strengthening the bonds between art and society and renewing its commitment to the preservation and valorization of intangible cultural heritage,” the group concluded in its press statement.

In Correio dos Açores-Natalino Viveiros, director