Aim: Support The Three Marias at Edinburgh Fringe 2025! A bold play on feminism, censorship & courage. Help us bring it to life!
We are Voices Collective, a new multicultural theatre company dedicated to sharing powerful female stories across cultures. Our debut show, The Three Marias: Women of Word, tells the story of three courageous Portuguese writers who challenged dictatorship and censorship with their groundbreaking book.
Led by actresses Eduarda Nogueira, Maria Barros, and Isabella Dellazari Velarde, and directed by Wendy McEwan, supported by a fantastic crew, our vision is to amplify women’s voices and spark conversations on feminism, freedom, and equality.
The funds we raise will cover essential costs: venue hire, travel and accommodation for the cast and crew, printing posters and flyers, and production expenses. Your support helps us bring this important story to the Edinburgh Fringe, where it can inspire and connect with a global audience.
Join us on this journey to celebrate creativity, resilience, and women’s voices!
Who Were the Three Marias?
The Three Marias were Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Teresa Horta, and Maria Velho da Costa, three pioneering Portuguese writers and feminists.
In 1972, they co-authored the groundbreaking book New Portuguese Letters (Novas Cartas Portuguesas). The work was a bold literary response to the oppressive Estado Novo dictatorship in Portugal, and it tackled themes such as censorship, patriarchy, colonialism, and women’s rights. The book mixed poetry, fiction, letters, and essays in an experimental, feminist format.
Shortly after its publication, the book was banned, and the three authors were arrested and put on trial for “abuse of press freedom and offending public morals”. The international outcry that followed turned their case into a global feminist cause, often referred to as the Three Marias trial.
Their courage and solidarity made them symbols of resistance, and New Portuguese Letters remains a landmark in feminist literature.
Why This Story Matters to Me
By Eduarda Nogueira
I felt deeply inspired, as a Portuguese woman, when I discovered the story behind New Portuguese Letters. The courage of the Three Marias and the way they confronted a dictatorship through their writing moved me profoundly.
They chose to be free. They spoke out, wrote with conviction, and reflected the world around them, even knowing the risks and consequences under a repressive regime. Their bravery and resistance, through literature, lit a fire in me.
Their story stayed with me. I couldn’t let it go. I knew I had to share it.
That’s why I’m bringing this play to the Edinburgh Fringe: to give voice to their words again, to honour their legacy, and to share this powerful piece of Portuguese history with the world. I hope their strength inspires others as it inspired me.
— Eduarda Nogueira, writer and performer, playing Maria de Fátima
Hear from the Cast
Our wonderful cast comes from all over the world. Three Portuguese-speaking actors will interpret the lives of the Three Marias, showcasing the crucial moments surrounding the creation of New Portuguese Letters.
“The most powerful feminism is one that completely removes the limits of what women can be. Or say. Or do.”
— Maria Barros, playing Maria Teresa Horta
Costs You Will Help Cover
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 21st August 2025 at 2:40pm