At the core of the set stands the retable, built out of wood and multi-coloured fabric, in the guise of a miniature traditional stage complete with stage curtains, cardboard painted background and lighting (oil lamp). The Puppets are made out of wood and tree bark, 20 to 40 cm in height and attired in such a way that allows characters to be easily recognised. Music (Portuguese guitar) and songs are played live. The dramatized texts are a mix of popular oral traditional and more erudite writing.

These traditional puppets from Alentejo seem to have borrowed their name from the village where they first emerged.
The puppets are handled from above, through a rod, like the large puppets from Southern Italy and from Northern Europe, but in a smaller scale – from 20 to 40 cm.
The Bonecos de Santo Aleixo, owned by Centro Dramático de Évora, are handled by a "troupe" of professional actors, thus assuring the continuity and heritage of this traditional art from.
Renowned and loved throughout the land, the show is often displayed in its ancestral traditional settings, as well as further afield in places such as Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, UK, Greece, Mozambique, Germany, Macau, China, India, Thailand, Brazil, Russia, Mexico and France). The Bonecos de Santo Aleixo also host the Bienal Internacional de Marionetas de Évora – BIME since 1987.