Luís Filipe Valente Lá Féria Orta, known professionally as Filipe La Féria (born May 17, 1945 in Vila Nova de São Bento), is a Portuguese director, producer, and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

for television and theatre.

Career

He began his theatrical activity in 1963 as an actor at the National Theater, and with Amélia Rey Colaço belonged to theatre companies such as Teatro Estúdio de Lisboa, Teatro Experimental de Cascais, Casa da Comédia and Teatro da Cornucópia. He was assistant to Victor Garcia in '' As Criadas'', by

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...

, in the Teatro Experimental de Cascais. La Féria studied in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, winning a scholarship from the

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable founda ...

(Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian). He was director for 16 years at the Teatro da Casa da Comédia where he had a high degree of responsibility for most of its operations. There he produced a play from René Kalisky about

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

called ''A paixão segundo Pier Paolo Pasolini'' as well as ''A Marquesa de Sade'', ''Eva Péron'', ''Savanah Bay'', ''A Bela Portuguesa'', ''Electra ou a Queda das Máscaras'', ''Noites de Anto'', ''A Ilha do Oriente'', and works by

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, ; ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 190317 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the Prix Femina and ...

Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...

, Mishima, Agustina Bessa-Luís and Mário Cláudio. In 1990, he wrote ''What Happened to Madalena Igtésias?'' and accepted the invitation as

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, director and set designer to produce it at the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in Lisbon, one of Portugal's most prestigious theatres. At the Teatro Politeama he also produced, ''Maldita Cocaína'', ''Jasmim ou o Sonho do Cinema'', ''De Afonso Henriques a Mário Soares'', ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set t ...

'', ''Maria Callas'' and '' Rosa Tatuada'', by

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

. La Féria was awarded several times by critics, by the Casa da Imprensa, Secretaria de Estado da Cultura and Associação Portuguesa de Críticos and several magazines as a writer, director and set designer. He was awarded the Ordem do Infante D. Henrique by President

Mário Soares Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares (; 7 December 1924 – 7 January 2017) was a Portugal, Portuguese politician, who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the List of Presidents of P ...

in 2000 and was awarded personality of year in theatre at the Golden Globes the same year. For television he has produced and directed ''Grande Noite'', ''Cabaret'', ''Saudades do Futuro'' and ''Comédias de Ouro'' and other comedy shows. In 2000 he wrote and performed the musical ''Amalia'', which opened at the Teatro Politeama. During 6 years on stage it was also performed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and other cities of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and was seen by over 16 million viewers. He was also professor of the Independent University of Lisbon, in the arts department. In 2001, he enacted ''A Casa do Lago'' by Ernest Thompson with

Eunice Muñoz Eunice Muñoz, Order of St. James of the Sword, OSE, Order of Infante D. Henrique, GCIH (30 July 1928 – 15 April 2022) was a Portuguese actress, considered one of the best Portuguese actresses of all time. Early life and career Eunice Mu� ...

and

Ruy de Carvalho Ruy Alberto Rebelo Pires de Carvalho (born 1 March 1927) is a Portuguese actor. As of 2025, he is the world's oldest actor still working in theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usu ...

. In 2002, he staged the musical ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'' (''Linda My Lady''), adapted from Bernard Shaw, giving it a Golden Globe for Best Performance of the Year. La Féria's latest productions have been ''The Queen of Ferro Velho'', by Garçon Kanin (2004), ''A Girl of the Sea of Sophia'' by Mello Breyner (2005), ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'', by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

(2005), ''The Song of Lisbon'' based on the movie by '' Cotinelli Telmo'' (2006), ''The Little Prince'' by ''Saint-Exupéry'' (2006) and ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'' (2007; starring Mariana Bandhold). In 2007 he also produced ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

'', which was the first production at the Teatro Rivoli, followed by ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

'' (2008) and ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'' (2008). In 2009 he opened in the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

with "Edith Piaf" and the great musical comedy '' La Cage aux Folles''.

Some notable actors he has directed

Plays produced

*''Maldita Cocaína'' que estreia no Teatro Politeama (1993) *''Jasmim ou o Sonho do Cinema (1996)'' *''De Afonso Henriques a Mário Soares'' *''Amália'', que estreia no Teatro Politeama *''

'' *''Maria Callas'' *''Pierrot e Arlequim'' *'' Rosa Tatuada (1999)'' *'' Casa da Saudade'', série da RTP (2000) *'' A Casa do Lago'', de Ernest Thompson com

and

(2000) *''A Minha Tia e Eu'' (2002) *''

'' (''Minha Linda Senhora''), adaptado de Bernard Shaw (2003) *'' A Rainha do Ferro Velho'', de Garçon Kanin (2004) *''A Menina do Mar'', de Sophia de Mello Breyner (2005) *''Alice no País das Maravilhas'', de

(2005) *''A Canção de Lisboa'', baseado no filme de Cotinelli Telmo (2005) *''O Principezinho'' a partir de Saint-Exupéry (2007) *'' Música no Coração'' (2007) *''

(2007)'', first production of Teatro Rivoli *''

'' 2008 *''A Estrela (2008)'' *''

'' (2008) *''Piaf'' (2009) *'' La cage aux folles'' (''A Gaiola das Loucas'') (2009) *'' O Feiticeiro de Oz'' (2009) *'' Judy Garland - O Fim do Arco-Íris'' (2012) *

External links

*
Official siteO regresso de Amalia
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Feria, Filipe 20th-century Portuguese dramatists and playwrights Portuguese theatre directors Portuguese television producers Portuguese screenwriters Portuguese male screenwriters 1945 births Living people Golden Globes (Portugal) winners People from Serpa Portuguese male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Portuguese male writers