In a neighbourhood on the edge of the city, a community tries to hold itself together between uprootedness and the hope that tomorrow might be better.

Before a new building contractor arrives at an empty plot, an old man scatters seeds in the soil and waits for the old rain to make them grow – a quiet gesture that sets this story in motion. The play's subtitle plays on the architectural promise of a building advertised as a "space for happiness", with a rooftop gym and pool, but which in practice offers little more than small windows – happiness measured, literally, by the square metre.

Lote 19 – Felicidade por Metro Quadrado premieres on 2 September at Teatro Variedades, running until the 13th, performed in Portuguese, adapted and directed by Jorge Gomes Ribeiro from the novel Quando as Girafas Baixam o Pescoço, by Sandro William Junqueira, produced by Companhia da Esquina, with Paula Neves, Carla Chambel, André Nunes, Pedro Pernas and Tiago Costa in the cast.

Performances Wednesday to Saturday at 9pm and Sunday at 4pm, age rating 14+.