Na Ruinas Gery Mendes / AllthingsAfrica

TR25 Schouwburg

From a dilapidated dream house, an old man looks back on his life. Born during the famine of '47 in Cape Verde, he later leaves for Europe. In search of a future bigger than the island he leaves behind. He crosses oceans, lives fast, builds a life in Rotterdam and starts a family. Until love can no longer hold and old wounds resurface. Some baggage you cannot get rid of.

In Na Ruinas (In the ruins), a son takes a close look at that life. He tries to understand what shaped his father and how that continues to affect their home. Where conversations falter and silence takes over, he uses music to search for words for what is never spoken. Along the way, he sees the war that scarred his father, the silence that lingers afterwards, and the love that is there but cannot always be shown.

With two musicians by his side, Gery Mendes steps into the shoes of his father; from young soldier to a man between two worlds. A poignant, personal, and cinematic theatrical concert full of traditional Kaapverdische music and hip hop.

About identity, family, and a past that continues to have an effect.

Na Ruinas is an ode to fathers and sons and to the traces that a past can leave on a family, long after the shooting has stopped. A relatable story about what we take with us from the past and what we pass on.