A New Season Begins in Lisbon: 8 Powerful Plays for a Return to the Stage

As summer slowly picks up, my favorite activity begins in the city: Theater season begins. We have a great calendar ahead of us to shake off the holiday lethargy and take refuge in the unique atmosphere of the halls.

The most exciting event of this season is the reopening of the doors of Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in Rossio, which has been under restoration for about three years. But the movement is not limited there; Stages all over the city, from Parque Mayer to Poço do Bispo, come with a full program.

Here are the 8 prominent games you'll want to note in your calendar for September and October:

1. Lot 19 – Felicidade per Metro Quadrado (Lot 19 – Happiness Per Square Meter)

Location: Teatro Variedades | Date: 2–13 September

Adapted from Sandro William Junqueira's novel, the play focuses on the world of people trying to hold on to a difficult life on the edge of the city. A small search for hope that flourishes in the midst of crisis and stuckness, on an empty land where nothing has been built yet.

2. La Distance

Location: Culturgest | Date: 10–20 September

A science fiction drama written and directed by Tiago Rodrigues that made a splash at the Avignon Festival last year. In a future where people migrate to Mars due to the climate crisis, it brings to the stage the unbreakable bond of a father and a daughter, one of whom stays on Earth and the other goes to space, despite the distance of millions of kilometers.

3. Nacionalismo (Nationalism)

Venue: TBA – Teatro do Bairro Alto | Date: 10–13 September

The production, produced by Odete, discusses how the idea of "nation" was built in Portugal from 1143 to the Estado Novo period. The concept of belonging is questioned through the story of two trans actors, one with a secret Jewish origin and a Portuguese passport, and the other a Muslim with a Syrian passport.

4. Loucos à Solta (Total Madness)

Venue: Teatro Maria Matos | Date: 10 September – 25 October

An entertaining detective comedy about a murder that suddenly occurs in a hair salon and the audience is also involved. An interactive show with lots of laughs that puts everyone in the theater on the suspect seat to figure out who the killer is.

5. Uma casa, com certeza (Surely a House)

Venue: Teatro Trindade INATEL | Date: 10 September – 25 October

This fresh text, born from an IKEA purchase, is an award-winning production for the young writer Constança Bourgard. It captures in an extremely sincere manner the tensions in the relationship of a young couple trying to establish a home and life together in the shadow of the housing crisis and astronomical rents.

6. O Pai (Father)

Venue: Teatro Municipal Sao Luiz | Date: 16–27 September

August Strindberg's harsh and timeless classic is on stage again under the direction of Gonçalo Waddington. A striking psychological drama about power within a family, control over children, and how the conflict between men and women can turn into a devastating war.

7. Macbeth

Venue: Teatro Nacional D. Maria II | Date: 18 September – 31 October

Grand opening game of TNDM II. This Shakespeare masterpiece, which was on stage on the night of the fire that destroyed the theater in 1964 and was considered "unlucky" in the theater world, opens the curtain by defying superstitions with the direction of Pedro Penim and the performances of José Raposo and Bárbara Branco.

8. Histórias de Viagem Goa (Goa Travel Stories)

Venue: Teatro Meridional | Date: 24 September – 1 November

The new stops of Teatro Meridional's project, which traces the Portuguese language around the world, are Goa, Daman and Diu. Combining music, movement and narrative, the show pays homage to the shared history between India and Portugal and the Indo-Portuguese culture.

Source: Frederico Bernardino (August 22, 2026)

Image Source: Christophe Raynaud, Ben do Rosário, Estelle Valente