A Portuguese Dream of Midsummer’s Night

As related in my essay “Portuguese Magic – In Ancient Times”, the night of the Summer Solstice on June 21 is renowned for being the zenith of supernatural activity in Portugal. In particular, the anthropomorphic Mouras Encantadas are to be seen near their imprisonment in dolmen, grottos and sacred waters. It is only then that they can be released from the spells which bind them as guardians.

Two days later, on June 23, comes the Noite de São João when the presence of beings such as witches, elves and goblins is guarded against by the practice of leaping over bonfires and oceanic waves (or a bathtub) in the belief that exorcism by fire and water is thus attainable. Spirits can also be warded off by the scattering of garlic and leeks over doorways and other entrances/exits to the underworld.

In fact, every town and village has its own ghost story to tell, although some choose to remain secretive so that their clandestine spirits are not disturbed by strangers.

Tomar has its legends associated with the Order of Christ and Knights Templar, Sintra has its misty mysteries dating to the time of the Moors and other localities have their own particular brand of witch (bruxa), appearing as washerwomen or healers, all of whom dance merrily under walnut trees!

In 2010, the innovative Teatro Praga translated Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to a Portuguese setting in a sardonic performance at theCentro Cultural de Belém. With some additional dialogue from Purcell’s opera The Fairy Queen translated into the language of TV reality shows and text messages, the characters were chosen from contemporary political personalities.

The enchanted forest became the Assembleia da República where presidential Oberon superintends the activities of the puppets with the help of influencer Puck.

The actors fall in and out of love with each other. Their endeavours to plight their troth are forestalled by an inability to plight one’s truth. The transformation of Bottom to a (silly) ass who truly believes that the Fairy Queen desires him is a parody of the electorate’s desire to see sanity in its governance.

The final disentanglement – desenrascanço – is not the termination of a fantasy as Shakespeare wrote, but rather the closure of fragmented alliances which have been signed in the darkness of nightmare. The dream is no longer wet but bad.

Roberto Cavaleiro

Roberto Cavaleiro has been resident in Portugal since 1989 and possesses dual Portuguese/British nationality. Now in his 10th decade, he devotes much of his senility to the composition of essays, poems and commentaries on a diversity of Portuguese subjects.