The Three Marias: Women Of Word

Greenside@ George Street 19/8/25

Voices Collective Company

Most people in Britain have an image of Franco, whose fascistic régime dominated Spain for 36 years. Less well-known is that suffered by neighbouring Portugal, under Antonio Salazar. It predated Franco’s by seven years and, lasting 41 years, was the longest dictatorship in all Europe. Today in Portugal the memory is still alive and raw.

 Towards the end, three women, all named Maria, conspired to defy the patriarchal forces by the power of the pen. They co-wrote an extraordinary book, “New Portuguese Letters”, a set of imaginary letters between the female descendants of a frustrated real-life 17th century nun.   

 The story is simple. The women join to write the book, work on it together and publication is stamped on by the authorities. It’s told as a sequence of short scenes punctuated by blackouts, shifting of props and positions, with radio snippets giving a sense of the date. The three personalities are very different, and the performances bring out that variety. Maria 1 (Eduarda Nogueira) is perceptive, decisive, cool-headed; Maria 2 (Maria Barros) is sensual, energetic and vulnerable; Maria 3 (Isabella Dellazari Velarde) is powerful, angry and not a little confused. The scene is mostly in the room where the women write and discuss together, but we also break away to a courtroom or Maria 3’s home where she’s beaten by her husband. This moment is played with full violence helped by the work of fight director Frantiska Vosatkova. The players slip easily into other roles as required. Eduarda Nogueira’s play is moulded into a smooth narrative under Wendy McEwan’s direction with, for the fringe, a substantial production team.
The overall message is brought home to us with passion. It has new relevance today as authoritarian politicians gain power in the West, and elsewhere governments enforce policies explicitly oppressing women.

 The play runs at 12.30 am at Greenside till Saturday 23 August

Photo shows the three actresses (Eduarda Nogueira, Isabella Velarde, Maria Barros) with assistant director (Zuza Soltykowska) at rear and director (Wendy McEwan) on right.