Two Portuguese-American Plays: Amarelo and Through a Portagee Gate

Two Portuguese-American Plays, comprised of Through a Portagee Gate, adapted by Patricia A. Thomas from the Charles Reis Felix memoir of the same name, and Amarelo, by Paulo A. Pereira, dramatize immigrant experience in the mill-town of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Each play begins or ends there, along with visits to Escamil, California, or the tiny village of Covoada, on the island of São Miguel, the Azores. Employing contrasting dramatic techniques, both works portray unforgettable protagonics, at once charming and idiosyncratic. In Through a Portagee Gate, the Radio Ensemble at the WNBH studio in downtown New Bedford broadcasts commercials and news stories, taking us on a journey through the twentieth century; in Amarelo, “Man” poses at the explorer Gonçalo Velho, and others, as he propels the story forward through time. These plays are alive with humor, wit and sincerity drawn from the human experience. Through a Portagee Gate, the play, was commissioned by the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Both plays were sponsored for regional performances by the Center and produced by Culture*Park Theatre of New Bedford, Massachusetts.