Meeting with Barbara Heliodora

In a beautiful old house in Largo do Boticario, near the Carioca river, one of the few places the river is open to the sky, I meet Barbara Heliodora. I had first heard her name at Festlip, where she was mentioned in connection with translating Shakespeare into the Portuguese language, and in promoting the Portuguese language in general. She has infact translated all of Shakespeare´s works (excluding the questionably authored Two Noble Kinsmen and Edward 111). She has given me a copy of her translation of Pericles - which I am using as a basis for the Pericles Project. We talk about Shakespeare´s language and the process of translation. English is a more compact language than Portuguese and the challenges in translation is to try to stick to the same number of verses. This may mean some omissions but her main concern is to create a text that can be played. Her text tries to rhyme where Shakespeare rhymes; and she sticks to the pentameter. Her mother was a poet and Barbara began translating Shakespeare because she was directing one of his plays and needed the text in Portuguese. She reflects on how Brazil did not inherit a theatrical tradition from Portugal; like the US did from Great Britain. And at the beginning of the 20th century, when Brazil´s theatre began in earnest, it had to compete with cinema. English is a much richer language; it has two roots, Latin and Anglo-Saxon, she says. What about the mix in Portuguese? The influence from Africa, the Angolan languages, what about the indigineous languages? I reply. It is curious that we seem to be arguing in favour of each other´s native culture. What about Camoes? Don´t his sonnets match those of Shakespeare? Yes, but he was a poet, not a dramatist. The Portugues have few dramatists of that time. It is a fascinating conversation which I hope to continue with her.

As I leave I have a look at the Carioca river. Apparently the river has special powers; lasting vigour for the man; lasting beauty for the woman. The word Carioca, meaning someone with the sensibilities and attitude of an authentic Rio inhabitant, is in fact an Indian word used to describe the first European settlers in the area. The word is from the Tupi-guarani, meaning ´white house.´

The launch of a book celebrating 20years of Nos Do Morro

The book is beautifully presented. Photos and scripts describing the history of the company as well as giving a flavour of the company today.

Revolution and Shakespeare in The Street

The Republica where I am staying, Aquarius, was itself born of the revolutionary spirit of 1968, being formed by those men thrown out of the other Republicas. Their misdemeanour being political dissent in the time of the dictatorship.  It seems an appropriate place to talk politics and philosophy.  Rousseau and Thomas Paine soon give way to stories of contemporary political corruption.  How the British MP's expenses scandal is nothing to the great gulps of the Brazilian politicians! Senate chief and former President, Jose Sarney, is currently accused of embezzlement and nepotism on a grand scale.  It is all fuel for my work on Shakespeare's Pericles, which invokes, at times, the spirit of Athenian citizenship.  For example, the scene with the fishermen, which I am using in some of the workshops in the favelas. The fishermen complain that "the rich misers... the whales of the land... never leave gaping till they swallowed the whole parish, steeple, bells and all."  On return to Rio I find the inscription, "Politics is the child of morality and reason." And I remember a conversation about how some Brazilian politicians see politics as a business tool.

Ouro Preto

I am staying in a Republica, a student hall.  The accommodation is basic, but rent free. The town, Ouro Preto, is the site of the Inconfidencia Mineira, the first attempt to free Brazil from the Portuguese in 1789.

Belo Horizonte

Chico Pelucio from Grupo Galpao

The next day I visit Cine Horto, the young people, community and training arm of Grupo Galpao. There is a whole range of theatre arts activities, from writing to acting and design.  This year's cohort of students are touring an adaptation of Shakespeare's Um Sonho de Noite de Sao Joao ( a version of A Midsummer Night's Dream).  There is an annual festival of work from companies all over Brazil. The resultant texts are published in anthologies.

Grupo Galpao - a company run by the actors

I am watching Till, the new show by Grupo Galpao.  It is in a big park on the outskirts of Belo Horizonte.  It is an outdoor arena theatre with over 3,000 people in the audience.  The text is by Luis Alberto de Abreu, from a Medieval Germanic Tale.  Funny and sad, it captivates the audience throughout, finishing to rapturous applause.  The company is based here in BH, has a loyal following from their home town but tours all over Brazil and the world.  They are particularly famous for their production of Romeo and Juliet, which came to the Globe Theatre in London. 

The Theatre of the Oppressed - Rio

International Conference of the Theatre of the Oppressed - A Tribute to Augusto Boal

The conference is both a tribute and a look towards the future.  Augusto did not leave a will, so what will be his legacy? The final actions of the conference revolve around the website and how it will be managed.  Individuals are to be chosen to represent different continents. Africa is first to decide, Jose Carlos, from Guine-Bissau, will represent them.

Teatro Oficina

Ze Celso

Ze Celso and Teatro Oficina

I watch an early rehearsal for the new play Cacilda at Teatro Oficina.  I join the warm up.  The troupe of 20 odd actors are accompanied by musicians, drums, cello, guitar.  The warm up begins; actors stretching individually, transform into a group singing and moving as one.  All the actors are highly attuned to each other, the lead moves from one to the other.

The theatre space is a traverse, a passage beginning through massive steel doors, descending in steps, between the seating ranged on either side, gorge-like.  The group begins to read the text. Here, Ze Celso, the director of the company, orchestrates the proceedings.  The focus becomes rigorous.  He is a master.  In one moment he springs to the piano, at another he gives a beautiful and funny rendition of a song from the play. The group applauds. He has written this play, together with his colleague Marcello, as an hommage to the great Brazilian actress Calcilda Becker. This is the second part, the premiere of which will open in Rio, in September.  Earlier, over lunch, Ze had talked about how Cacilda had played Desdemona, the only white woman in an all black cast.  Ze had made a promise to write the first Cacilda play, if he recovered fully from a knee operation. There is a sense of the Gods in this theatre.  The play I watched, O Banquete,  conjures many of them. A fire is lit.  A tree grows out of the side of the building.  The dream is to build another theatre in the land adjoining, and that this theatre will become a passageway. A path through which the audience will pass and exit the other side.  Currently, like most theatres, the audience exit the same way they enter, like Orpheus visiting the underworld.  Here they will pass through, and out the other side; to travel through, to a new place.

Nos do Morro - a 'dialogical' methodology?

Nos do Morro is a theatre company which works in the favela community of Vidigal, overlooking Rio's Zona Sul. Marina Coutinho, who wrote a master's dissertation on the company, has noted how its origins have links with a Freirean 'dialogical' approach.

Many of the early plays, written by Paulo Correa e Castro, came out of a devising and improvising process with actors from the community. The art is produced through dialogue between artists and the Vidigal community. The main aim is artistic excellence. The measurements of social good can be made, but the company gives primacy to the Art of the Theatre. It was the distinctiveness of this approach, combined with the Freirean perspective, that drew me to work with the company.

The two previous projects, Hackney to the Favela 2005, and Knock against my Heart 2008, placed dialogue at the centre of the process.

http://www.knockagainstmyheart.blogspot.com

In 2009, my project still places dialogue at the heart and looks at the relationship between the company and Shakespeare (Nos do Morro performed at the RSC Complete Works Festival 2006); and the relationship between the company and new writing.

Romeo In the Favela

My first theatre encounter was with a version of Romeo and Juliet in Pavau, a favela on the hill behind Ipanema. It was an open rehearsal - typical of the producing company Nos do Morro - full of life, rhythm and energy.