The Same Mistake Again

Breathless, I rush from the stage to the auditorium’s men’s room. Tired, running on barely two hours of sleep, sweating, I make my way to the bar and come face to face with the gentleman who has been waiting for the past 5 hours for us to finish what we’re doing.

I have with me the razor, the shaving cream and the electric kettle. But I’ve forgotten the bowl to pour the hot water into. In a hurry I ask the gentleman if I can look for one in the bar. Veeeeeeeeery ca-aa-al-mly he acquiesces and asks if we’re still going to be long. No, I answer, we’re on schedule just as I said 5 hours ago. I’ve cut myself in multiple spots trying to be fast but I’ve managed to shave. I run to the dressing room with several tiny bits of toilet paper strategically placed on my face and I change into a different outfit as swiftly as I’m able to without falling down.

On stage the dancers are shining in front of the director’s camera with the help of an amazing photographer who redirects the light in the one scene I’m not in. They’re just about to finish. Hurry! I remove all the pieces of white paper with red droplets from my face and fix my hair.

An hour later I’ve wrapped up the final scene. I’m tired but thrilled. I try to savour the moment while the director starts to pack up because he really has to go home to his small children. Taking advantage of the fact that the spot lights I brought with me the previous day are still on, the photographer takes the last few shots.

Now I need to take all the stuff and try to make it all fit in my small car along with four dancers. It won’t fit. And the auditorium’s about to close. I find a way to leave the rest of it at a restaurant nearby while I return the dancers whence they came. All done.

I go back to the restaurant. It’s dinner time and I’m starving. As I savour the meal I realise that today I pulled off something impossible. I’m overcome by a sensation of peace and I laugh all by myself. All done.

All of a sudden I no longer feel like laughing. I remember my mother’s voice: “you must be a shareholder in the power company”. I just remembered I left a light on at home the entire day.

The same mistake again.

The filming of this video wouldn’t have been possible without these talented, hard-working people:

Directed by: Tiago Pimentel | Produced by: Tiago Barbosa & Mónica Guerra Leiria | Dancers: Lua Carreira, Tiago Barreiros, Pedro Alves & Gaspar Ribeiro | Photos by Rui M. Leal Photography | Many thanks to Fernando Tavares Marques & Grupo de Teatro Intervalo, Carlos Paiva, Susana Cacela, André Espada and Gabriel Fraitan

Filmed at Auditório Lourdes Norberto on August 12, 2019