For six years, the Rua Direita Festival has been quietly transforming the historic streets of Angra do Heroísmo into one of the most original performance spaces in Portugal. Rather than asking audiences to enter a theater, the festival brings theater to where life naturally unfolds—in bookstores, cafés, neighborhood shops, public squares, and centuries-old streets where ordinary routines unexpectedly become extraordinary encounters with art.

Now in its sixth edition, this year’s festival, presented by Cães do Mar, concludes this Saturday after another successful week of performances celebrating the 50th anniversary of Azorean Autonomy under the theme “On the Wings of the Goshawk” (Nas Asas do Açor).

The concept continues to prove remarkably effective: removing the perceived barriers surrounding the performing arts and inviting audiences to experience theater, dance, music, and performance art as an organic part of daily life.

“It’s wonderful to take theater out of the theater,” says actress Andreia Simões, one of the festival’s newcomers this year. “To bring it into the city, into the streets, into places where people already go every day allows them to experience it in a much more relaxed and natural way.”

Originally from Viana do Castelo and now living on Terceira Island, Simões makes her Rua Direita debut with a performance set inside Loja das Molduras, at the end of Rua Direita. Her character is inspired by the historic first flight of the airplane Açor in 1930 and follows the dreams of a young woman determined to become a pilot despite the social conventions of her era.

“The story is about a woman who wants to become responsible for herself,” Simões explains. “For me, that connects directly with the idea of autonomy. To be autonomous means having the freedom and the courage to make your own decisions, and that’s exactly what she fights for.”

The production, directed by Peter Cann of Cães do Mar, explores themes of independence, personal determination, and self-reliance while reflecting on the broader meaning of Azorean autonomy.

For Simões, who studied theater in Lisbon and physical theater in Barcelona before settling on Terceira, the experience of performing for audiences who never intended to attend a theatrical performance presents unique rewards.

“People are simply going about their day,” she says. “Suddenly they find someone dressed in 1930s clothing speaking to them. At first there’s a certain surprise, but audiences have been incredibly generous.”

That initial hesitation quickly disappears as spectators become active participants in performances designed to be interactive rather than observational.

“You can almost read people’s expressions at first: ‘Please don’t look at me… please don’t involve me,'” she laughs. “But once the ice breaks, you see them completely relax and embrace the experience.”

Only a few steps away, inside the historic Basílio Simões grocery store, another first-time festival participant is discovering the power of performing in unexpected places.

Interdisciplinary artist Francisca Poças, from Leiria, presents Tira-nódoas, a work that combines dance and spoken word from the perspective of a child witnessing Portugal’s revolutionary transformation.

“The child understands that something is changing in the adult world,” Poças explains. “She doesn’t necessarily understand politics, but she notices changes—in school, in language, in how people behave. It’s about discovering history through a child’s eyes.”

Accustomed to performing outside conventional theaters, Poças nevertheless encountered something entirely new at Rua Direita.

“This is the first time I’ve performed for an audience that didn’t know they were going to be an audience that day.”

That unexpected encounter has become one of the festival’s defining characteristics.

Inside Basílio Simões, customers continue shopping while employees serve groceries throughout the performance. Some stop to watch the entire piece. Others glance up for only a few seconds before returning to their shopping lists.

“I think both experiences are equally valid,” Poças says. “Someone may only look at the performance for five seconds while buying beans, but those five seconds are different from any other five seconds they would have spent buying beans.”

For her, that simple interruption of everyday routine is itself an artistic success.

“What I love most is how diverse the audience becomes,” she says. “Babies, children, teenagers, adults, elderly people, locals, tourists, wealthy people, working people—everyone shares the same space. That’s what happens when you take theater out of the theater.”

Performing inside one of Angra’s oldest family-owned businesses has also created unexpected relationships between artists and shopkeepers.

Poças uses much of the store’s warehouse during her performance and describes discovering an entirely different world behind the public storefront.

“It’s like entering another time,” she says. “Everyone works constantly, yet there’s such a calm rhythm. They’ve welcomed me so warmly.”

Her improvised dressing room sits between a giant molasses container and bags of yeast.

“During the performance I leave one of my dresses hanging somewhere, and afterward one of the warehouse workers quietly moves it back to my little dressing area beside the molasses so it won’t get dirty. They do these thoughtful gestures almost without saying a word.”

Those small acts of kindness capture the spirit that has made Rua Direita one of the Azores’ most distinctive cultural events.

Rather than isolating art inside formal institutions, the festival dissolves the boundaries between performers and audiences, between commerce and culture, between everyday life and artistic imagination. A customer enters a bookstore, a café, or a grocery store expecting nothing more than an ordinary errand—and leaves having experienced a story, a dance, a conversation, or a moment of wonder.

As this year’s edition concludes, Rua Direita once again demonstrates that the most powerful stages are not always found behind velvet curtains. Sometimes they are discovered between shelves of groceries, inside neighborhood cafés, on ancient balconies, and along the cobblestone streets of a UNESCO World Heritage city—where art simply becomes part of life, and life itself becomes a performance.

Based on a news story from Diário Insular. Photo from DI.