Open Theater tells the story of the last polar bear to children and adults

The play premieres at Teatro Aberto, in Lisbon, on Friday, June 20, and brings back to the stage of Praça de Espanha the playwright that the British newspaper The Guardian, in 2011, included among the exponents of German theater and the authors capable of guaranteeing its future.

"In this first play for the whole family, the prestigious German author Dea Loher narrates a story full of humor, music and fantasy about current issues, such as global warming and the extinction of species, and timeless themes, such as friendship and respect for differences", write the creators of the show in Lisbon, in the presentation of the work.

In the play, Benny the bear is forced to leave the Arctic because of global warming. He sets off on a raft and his goal is none other than to find a survivor, a partner, something that will give him the certainty that polar bears will not disappear.

Along the way, you come across a sea full of plastic, food shortages, and forced displacement of other species, issues that reflect today's challenges.

Arriving in Polynesia, Benny meets Polly the chicken. Diligent, the chicken helps him discover how to live in that dry and hot place, where everything is strange to him.

Through music, dance, image, song and spoken word, the story follows animals as they struggle to survive with strength and humor in a changing world.

At Teatro Aberto, 'A Polar Bear in the Universe', with a Portuguese version by Vera Sampayo Lemos, gave way to a collective creation with music, scenery, costumes and lighting by Anabela Gaspar, Afonso de Portugal, João Lourenço, Jorge Albuquerque, Marisa Fernandes, Marta Guerreiro and Sofia de Portugal.

On stage will be Catarina Lima, João Maria Reis, Kiko Monteiro and Zita Milene, as well as the musician Afonso de Portugal.

'A Polar Bear in the Universe' is Dea Loher's third play on the Teatro Aberto stage, after 'Golpada', premiered in 2019, the story of two poor brothers who dream of getting rich at any cost, and "Imaculados", staged in 2008, which takes two illegal immigrants as protagonists.

Born in 1964 in Traunstein, Bavaria, Dea Loher studied Philosophy and German Literature in Munich, later settling in Berlin.

Her first play, 'Olgas Raum', received the Hamburger Volksbühne Prize in 1991 and the Playwrights Award from the Royal Court of London in 1993, the year in which she was also awarded the Goethe Prize for 'Tattoo'.

For two consecutive years, in 1993 and 1994, Dea Loher was considered the Best Emerging Playwright in Germany by Theater Heute magazine.

Pieces such as 'Leviathan', 'Fremdes Haus', 'Adam Geist', 'Manhattan Medea' and 'Unschuld', as well as the regular presence of his works on stages in Austria, Brazil, France, Norway, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and especially in Germany, support the attribution of career awards such as the Else-Lasker-Schüler.

In 2006 he received the Bertolt Brecht Prize.

The playwright was in Portugal in 2009, shortly after the premiere of 'Imaculados', by Teatro Aberto, at a time when the Livrinhos do Teatro collection, by Artistas Unidos, published two of her texts - 'Tatuagem' and 'Inocência' -, in a translation by José Maria Vieira Mendes.

'A Polar Bear in the Universe', a play designed to "move, laugh and reflect on the family", as Teatro Aberto promises, will be on stage in the company's Sala Azul until July 27, with performances on Saturdays at 7 pm and on Sundays at 11:30 am and 4 pm.

The premiere takes place this Friday, at 7pm.

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