Sensitive Parts
David Marques and Nuno Pinheiro
2025

The first amphitheaters in Europe where the human body was studied were called anatomical theaters. There, where the first dissections took place, wonders about the body’s interior were revealed. The theater had been displaying entrails for several centuries, but these images of open bodies may have provoked unprecedented horror, astonishment, and enchantment. It was while preparing a performance that we cautiously touched one another for the first time—on the wounds and the scabs. As our boundaries began to blur, we were confronted with evidence of what we had already suspected: we were already inside one another, we were already in the air. Because we are living and dead particles in constant motion. Though we try to restrain ourselves, it is impossible. And, in truth, we even feel at home when sharing our sensitive parts. In Sensitive Parts, we speculate on possible connections between the science that has shaped our understanding of our bodies, our uninhibited physical and emotional encounter, and a time we have not yet experienced with our muscles, our organs, and our skin—a time we call, for lack of a better word, the future.

David Marques and Nuno Pinheiro

Concept, text, and performance: David Marques and Nuno Pinheiro Rehearsal assistant: Francisco Rolo Set design and lighting: Tiago Cadete Sound design: Gonçalo Alegria Costumes: Marisa Escaleira Photographs for fabric printing: Tamara Seilman Technical direction: Ricardo Pimentel Critical supervision: João Manuel de Oliveira; External perspective on the Paulo Cunha e Silva Campus: José Maria Vieira Mendes Executive production: Lorena Pirro Production: Parca Co-production: A Gráfica – Centro de Criação Artística, Teatro Virgínia
Creative Residencies: A Gráfica – Center for Artistic Creation, Teatro Virgínia, Ajidanha, Kunstencentrum BUDA, Paulo Cunha e Silva Campus, Em Trânsito Program EVC / Materiais Diversos, O Espaço do Tempo, O Lugar do Meio, Matraca – Cultural and Artistic Association.

Project support: Portuguese Republic – Culture / Directorate-General for the Arts, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

Acknowledgments: Andrea Rodella, Ângela Marques, Carlota Lagido, Dina Lopes, Elisabete Paiva, Joana Silva, Mariana Magalhães, Teresa Silva