This narrative is interwoven with quotes from those who have taught us about this place and from our own reflections, which are the building blocks of the argument.

The wool is buried in a ditch to keep it from rotting (“It’s not worth much now; it’ll lie here waiting for the wind to take it back to the mountains”). Secrets are hidden in the cave (“I keep the leftover pastry in my lunch box; when I’m done in the field, I’ll work a few hours at the factory”).

We set off from an uncharted geography to collect rocks (“these are the “aborregadas”, polished rock formations created by the erosive action of a glacier”), or round boulders (“gogos, taken from the River Caia, used for building house walls in Paul”).

We want to collect animals (“the ewe is lambing, can we watch?… look, a fox is running over there!”), herbs (“I have creeping grass roots”) and people. But also benches (“benches used in the loom; when the weaver grows, you add another layer of cork so that her legs don’t hurt”), stories and past experiences for this assembly where everyone can be heard (“since I’ve been in this project, I’ve seen and met people I didn’t even know existed”).

This project takes us from place to place, from house to house, from the mountain to the city (“from college to the bedroom, where I’ve found my refuge”), accompanied by scholars or surrounded by magical people, beings and objects.

The project was developed as part of ATOS, an initiative of the D. Maria II National Theatre and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.