French Literature Reviews - 2026

T. Rodrigues, By Heart. Apprendre par cœur
Theatre and Performance

By Heart - Apprendre par cœur
Tiago Rodrigues
Thomas Resendes (Translator)

Publication date: 30/06/2015 Publisher: Solitaires Intempestifs (Les) Series: Jeunesse ISBN: 978-2-84681-459-1 EAN: 9782846814591 Format: Paperback No. of pages: 55 p

Now Candida wants to learn one last book, the ultimate book. The favor she asked of me is that I should choose this book. Dear Professor, I assume you now grasp the magnitude of my problem. Pressed for time, I must fulfill this daunting mission. I ask for your advice: which book, which final book?

Tiago Rodrigues does not merely blur the boundaries between theater, fiction, and reality. He invites men and women—the "Shakespeare sonnet 30 platoon"—to experience and share, for the duration of a performance, a unique endeavor: memorizing a text and reciting it. An act of artistic and political resistance, as well as a struggle against time, oblivion, aging, absence, and disappearance. A gesture as deeply personal as it is political.

Tiago Rodrigues is an actor, playwright, and stage director. His subversive, poetic, and prolific theater—having created over thirty plays in the past decade, staged across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America—has established him as a prominent figure in contemporary young Portuguese theater. Grounded in a solid theatrical tradition, his work seeks to question our perception of the current social, political, and historical environment by blending documentary and fiction, personal and collective life.

Premiered in 2013 as part of the Cidade PreOcupada festival program (Portugal), directed by the author.

The practice of committing literature to memory has long occupied a complex space within theatrical performance, pedagogy, and oral tradition. In contemporary European dramaturgy, works that incorporate direct audience participation and live acts of memorization engage with broader questions about how texts survive across generations. This publication reflects the intersection of dramatic writing and performance art, offering readers access to a script that bridges the gap between private reading and collective theatrical experience within modern Portuguese drama.

Readers interested in contemporary European playwrights, the intersections of theater and politics, or the mechanics of memory on stage may find this volume relevant. Tiago Rodrigues is an actor, playwright, and stage director, and his prolific theater has established him as a prominent figure in contemporary young Portuguese theater. Grounded in a solid theatrical tradition, his work seeks to question our perception of the current social, political, and historical environment by blending documentary and fiction, personal and collective life.