Meet Ruy de Carvalho, the world's oldest working actor in theatre

euronews (in English)

At the age of 97 and a half, Ruy de Carvalho has earned the status of the world's oldest actor still working in theatre. With no plans to leave the stage, he received Euronews Culture during the production of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap".

Transcript

00:00Rui de Carvalho's life is on stage. That's how he sees it. That's how he wants it to continue.

00:06At 97 and a half years old, he is the oldest theatre actor in the world still working.

00:13Four days a week, he fulfills the ritual of arriving here at the Malaposta Theatre

00:18on the outskirts of Lisbon and donning the skin of Major Metcalfe in Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap.

00:30I'm 97 years old and 6 months old.

00:33As you can see, I'm almost 98 years old and I'm still on stage.

00:37I don't think there are many people in the world doing what I'm doing.

00:40I do it with great pleasure and I really enjoy doing my job.

00:43I don't think I should give up as long as I have the possibility to continue working.

00:47I work because I feel I have memory, I'm able to remember things.

00:52I ask not to be too big, not to have too many difficulties and not to waste too many hours.

00:57I study at home. Improvisations only take me a long time to work.

01:02For the actors who work with him, it leaves a mark in their lives.

01:07For us, it's an honour and a constant learning experience because Rui is an example to follow.

01:13We all want to have Rui de Carvalho one day, not only because of his talent,

01:16but also because of his longevity, his ability to always be available,

01:20always learning despite his age, always attentive to everything.

01:24It's very curious to see that Rui continues to live the stage as if it were his first time.

01:29How is it to work with Rui de Carvalho? It's an immense pride.

01:32Every day we learn something new and it's wonderful to see him working with this energy,

01:38with this joy, stepping on the stage every day.

01:42It's wonderful to work with Rui.

01:45Rui de Carvalho was a theatre professional for 5 years when Agatha Christie's Ratueira debuted in London 72 years ago.

01:51With the energy we saw on stage tonight, the play will certainly be able to stay on stage here in Lisbon for a long time as well.

01:59With Bruno Silva's image, Ricardo Figueira, Euronews, Lisbon.

02:14you

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