THEATER/PORTUGAL
The Night They Invented Maxim's
Damned Cocaine
Written and directed by Filipe la Feria; Teatro Politeama, Lisbon
POP OPEN THE CHAMPAGNE and toast Lisbon's Teatro Politeama. The once shabby 795-seat theater has been delightfully done over, and is now the ornate showplace for Portugal's first homegrown musical. To the Portuguese, who daily see new headlines about political corruption, Damned Cocaine (Maldita Cocaina) is less madcap romp than pointed satire. The Roaring Twenties return, with characters modeled on colorful real-life denizens of that era, and the setting is Maxim's, then a well-known Lisbon night spot. Through its doors parade a fascist...
