João Guedes Branco (born 1 July 1968) is a French-born Portuguese theatrical actor and reviewer, professor, and programmer. He had a theatrical career for over 30 years and appeared in more than 50 plays, most of them in

Mindelo Mindelo is a port cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2 ...

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

. Branco founded the Portuguese Cultural Centre's Theatrical Group on the island of São Vicente. He took part in the Mindelo International Film Festival, which is a major event in Lusophone African theatre. He was also a founder of Academia Livre de Artes Integradas do Mindelo, the Free Academy of Integrated Arts of Mindelo (ALAIM), which introduced a new model of artistic education to São Vicente.

Early life

João Branco was born 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 ...

, France to Portuguese musician José Mario Branco and programmer Isabel Alves Costa. He specialized in arts, communication, and culture at the

University of Algarve The University of Algarve (UAlg; ), founded in 1979, is a Portuguese public higher education institution located in the southernmost region of mainland Portugal, the Algarve, having its headquarters and two out of its three campuses in Faro (na ...

. He later completed a masters in scientific arts, and obtained a license in the Protection of Heritage and cultural organization. He started his artistic activities in 1984 with the playwright João Paulo Seara Cardoso. In 1987, he was invited by the Students' Association to perform in a stage play with Liceu Camões. In 1990, he performed his first play, ''Quem me dera ser onda,'' written by Angolan Mário Rui, at D. Maria II Secondary School in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Career

Cape Verde

He moved to

Mindelo Mindelo is a port cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2 ...

on the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde in 1991. From 1993, he began his theatrical course and was invited to the Portuguese Cultural Centre (CCP - Centro Cultural Português), where he appeared in fourteen productions. He founded the CCP Theatrical Group of Mindelo in 1993 and became its playwright and artistic director. The group has made over fifty theatrical productions performing the works of Cape Verdean authors such as Arménio Vieira,

Germano Almeida Germano Almeida (; born 31 July 1945) is a Cape Verdean author and lawyer. Biography Born on the Cape Verdean island Boa Vista, Almeida studied law at the University of Lisbon and currently practices in Mindelo. His novels have been translat ...

, Caplan Neves, and Mário Lúcio Soura, as well as the works of

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

Federico Garcia Lorca Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. People with the given name Federico Arts and language * Federico Ágreda, Venezuelan composer and DJ * Federico Aguil ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

, Muller and Alfonso Castelão. He was invited in 1994 to manage all of the Camões Institute Artistic activities at the CCP and Mindelo (Porto Grande) Polo. In 2003, he became director of the same cultural center. He was one of the founders of the Mindelo International Theatrical Festival in 1995. From 1996 to 2013, he was the first president of

Mindelact Mindelact is a Cabo Verdean theater association based in Mindelo on the island of São Vicente, Cabo Verde. Each year, it organizes the Mindelact Theater Festival (''Mindelact - Festival Internacional de Teatro do Mindelo'') The association was f ...

, another theatrical organization in Cape Verde.Mindelact website
/ref> Branco wrote ''Theatre Nation - History of Theatre in Cape Verde'', published in 2004 by the National Library of Cape Verde. This book was recognized by the Capeverdean Association of Writers for pioneering investigative literature in Cape Verde. Since 2013, he has been a member of the Academy of Letters of Cape Verde. He was also the author of the Capeverdean book ''O teatro dos Sete Povos Lusófonos'' (''The Book of Seven Lusophony Peoples''), written with the São Paulo Cultural Center in Brazil. In 2003, he edited the book ''10 Years in Theater'' (''10 anos de teatro''), referencing the history of the GTCCPM. He founded a review in 1997 titled ''Mindelact - Theatre in Review''. He has published articles in journals such as ''A Nação'', ''Horizonte'' and ''Cidadão'', and contributed to newspapers such as '' A Semana'' and the Portuguese '' Expresso''.

Recognition

He received the Theatrical Merit Award in 2010 and the Lusophony Theatrical Merit Award, given by the Luso-Brazilian Foundation on the development of the Portuguese language in Recife in 1996. In 1999, he received the Micadinaia Cultural Prize for the Comparative Academic Studies of S. Vicente. He was decorated in 2010 by the president of Cape Verde with First Class of the Order of Vulcan medal for his contribution to the Cape Verdean culture and to general scientific arts. In June 2014, he received the Sabino Évora Award of Excellence at the SalEncena International Festival on the island of Sal.

Personal life

He married and had three daughters, Laura Gonçalves Branco, Inês Gonçalves Branco and Isabel Costa Branco.

Works

Playwright

*1991: ''Quem me dera ser Onda'', novel by Mário Rui - performed with GTCCPM *1993: ''Fome de 47'' - unknown author - performed with GTCCPM *1993: ''A Estátua e Etc.'' - collective text - performed with GTCPPM *1994: ''Our Fisherman'' (''Nos Pescadores'') - collective text - performed with GTCCPM *1994: ''Chico'' - collective text - performed with GTCCPM *1995: ''Gin Tonic Surrealist'' - partly by Mário Henrique Leiria - performed with GTCCPM *1996: Adaptation of a book by

- performed with GTCCPM *1997: ''Bad Love'' a play by himself - performed with GTCCPM - performed with GTCCPM *1997 and 2007: A play, an adaptation of a book by Garcia Lorca - performed with GTCCPM *1998: ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' by

- performed with GTCCPM *1999: ''Os dois irmãos'', adaptation of a novel by

- performed with GTCCPM *1999: ''Figa Canhota'', collective text - performed with GTCCPM *1999: ''Catchupa'', collective text - performed with GTCCPM *2000: ''Agravos de um Artista'', adaptation of a short story by Germano Almeida - performed with GTCCPM *2001: ''Count of Abranhos'', adaption of a book by Eça de Queirós - performed with GTCCPM *2001; ''Adão e as Sete Pretas de Fuligem'', by Mário Lúcio Sousa, within the scope of the Porto 2011 Cultural Capital of Europe, performed in Porto and in Lisbon *2002: ''Salon'' by Mário Lúcio Sousa *2003: ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' by

, co-produced with Atelier Teatrakácia *2004: '' Tertúlia'', based on the poems *2005: ''High Seas'' - a poem by Mrozek and

Eugénio Tavares Eugénio de Paula Tavares (born 18 October 1867 in the island of Brava; died 1 June 1930 in Vila Nova Sintra) was a Cape Verdean poet. He is known through his famous poems ('' mornas''), mostly written in the Creole of Brava. Biography Eugén ...

*2006: "Women of Lajinha" ("Mulheres na Lajinha"), a part of the novel ''

O mar na Lajinha ''O mar na Lajinha'', also as ''No mar da Lajinha'' (Capeverdean Creole, ALUPEK: ''U mar na Lajinha'', ''Nu mar da Lajinha'') is a Capeverdean novel published in 2004 by Germano Almeida. The story is about a group of people meeting regularly for ...

'' by

*2007: ''A Caderneta'', by

Baltasar Lopes da Silva Baltasar Lopes da Silva (23 April 1907 – 8 May 1989) was a writer, poet and linguist from Cape Verde, who wrote in both Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole. With Manuel Lopes and Jorge Barbosa, he was the founder of '' Claridade''. In 1947 ...

*2009: ''The Fire'' (''No Inferno''), based on a book by Arménio Vieira *2009: ''O Jardim do Dr. Gordner Brickers'', by Caplan Neves *2011: ''Closer'' by

Patrick Marber Patrick Albert Crispin Marber (born 19 September 1964) is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor, and screenwriter. Early life Marber was born and raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Wimbledon, London, the son of Angela (Benjam ...

, Projecto Aquarium, Lisbon, Portugal *2012: ''Stand Up Comedy Pará Moss'', collective texts with Trupe Pará (Pará Troop) *2012: ''Theory of Silence'' (''Teorema do Silêncio'') by Caplan Neves *2012: ''As Mindelenses'' (''The Mindelians'', sometimes as ''Gramportians'') - collective texts with Trupe Pará (Pará Troop) *2013: ''Neverland'' - book adaptation of ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'' by

J.M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

with Project KCena in Salvador de Bahìa, Brazil *2013: ''Sete Pequenas Peça, Para Sete Grandes Crises'' - collective text with Trupe Pará (Pará Troop) *2013: ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' by William Shakespeare *2014: ''

The Lesson ''The Lesson'' () is a one-act play by French-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco. It was first performed in 1951 in a production directed by Marcel Cuvelier (who also played the Professor). Since 1957 it has been in permanent showing at Pari ...

'', by Eugène Ionesco with Trupe Pará (Pará Troop) *2015: ''Do-Eu'' with the Free University of

Vila Velha Theater The Vila Velha Theater (), also known simply as "Vila", is a performing arts center in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The theater was constructed in 1964 and is located on Avenida Sete, at the west of the 19th-century Neoclassical public area, the Pass ...

in Salvador de Bahía, Brazil *2015: ''Morabesta'', with Teatro 15 Project - Mindelo *2016 - ''Strangers'' by José Luis Peixoto, co-produced with Teatro Rivoli in Porto, Portugal

Assistant playwright

*1999 - ''Cloun Creolus Dei'' - a play by Miguel Seabra *2013 - ''Cloun City'' - a play by Janaína Alves with the troop Para Moss in Cape Verde

As an actor

*''Fome de 47'' (1993) *''A Estátua e Etc.'' (1993) *''Gin Tonic Surrealist'' (1995) * ''

'' (1998) *''Cloun Creolus Dei'' (1999-2008) *''Count of Abranhos'' (2001) *''Adão e as Sete Pretas de Fuligem'' (2002) *''Alice'' (2012) *''Theory of Silence'' (2013) *''

'' (2013)

References

External links

Official websiteCafé Margoso blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Branco, João 1968 births Living people Male actors from Paris Portuguese expatriates in Cape Verde Portuguese male actors