- Worked closely with our Chinese partners in supporting international programming for the 2026 Shanghai Jing’an Theatre Festival.
- Ensured smooth communication between Armazém Companhia de Teatro and our venue partner in every aspect of the tour, from artists’ schedules, technical preparations, Chinese and English surtitles, and media campaigns to various works related to the visit.
- Assisted administrative tasks including performers’ visa applications, flights, local accommodation, and on-site management for delivering the performance successfully.
16/5/2026-17 Shanghai, Daning Theatre (2026 Shanghai Jing’an Theatre Festival)
Happy Days is one of Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett’s most celebrated plays. This new production by Brazil’s Armazém Companhia de Teatro, directed by co-founder Paulo de Moraes, presents it as a pared-back, highly concentrated survival monologue poised between absurdity and endurance. Buried in a mound of earth, first up to her waist and then up to her neck, Winnie still wakes each day to the sound of a bell. She brushes her teeth, puts on lipstick, talks, remembers and sings. Beside her are the near-silent Willie and a bag holding everything she has against the void: a toothbrush, a mirror, lipstick and a revolver. “Another happy day,” she insists.
Armazém builds the work through a minimal stage, striking imagery, precise rhythm and Beckett’s dark humour, creating an atmosphere that sits between tragedy and comedy. Winnie’s optimism is both sincere and unsettling, and her fragility and despair keep showing through the laughter. The result is a portrait of time, companionship and the will to go on. Seen today, the play’s barren, sun-scorched landscape also echoes climate change and ecological crisis, placing one woman’s predicament in a wider contemporary context. Presented in 2026 to mark the 120th anniversary of Beckett’s birth, the production was performed in Portuguese with Chinese and English surtitles and marked its China premiere.
