In 1838 she was living in poor circumstance in Lisbon at the home of someone who knew some of the actors at the Teatro da Rua dos Condes.

She was so entranced by the performance and the actor, in turn, was so impressed with her ability to reproduce part of the show she had seen, that he introduced her to the theatre where, although lacking any education, she was given lessons by the director, Émile Doux.

At this debut Neves received considerable applause and very favourable reviews in the newspapers, resulting in the impresario tripling her salary within a fortnight.

In February 1839 she signed a contract with the Teatro da Rua dos Condes, in which she undertook to only work for that theatre.

In 1842 she performed in Les Premières Armes de Richelieu by Eugène Scribe, a play that had been taken to Lisbon by Émile Doux.

[1][2][4] In 1846, she was invited to join the permanent cast of the new D. Maria II National Theatre, where she was classified as “Absolute first lady”.

She already had a reputation of being a difficult character and was reported to have behaved very badly there, refusing admittance to the theatre for all journalists apart from her two favourites.

Unable to return to Lisbon on terms and conditions that she found acceptable, she again formed her own company in 1862 and toured Portugal and Spain.

However, her difficult relations with the other cast members meant that the company was dissolved in 1863, resulting in her return to Teatro D. Maria II in Lisbon.

Five years after her death, a marble bust of Emília das Neves, by António Soares dos Reis, was unveiled in the foyer of the Teatro D. Maria II.