I shall start with a programme known as Cena Inquieta (Restless Scene), run by SESC TV and addressing the issue of theatre groups. I have selected two of the companies addressed the Cia Emú de Teatro Negro (Emú Company of Black Theatre) and the Cia dos Comuns (Company of Commons), both these being companies based on Black Art, and founded in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In this material, we explore the physical and symbolic space of these groups based on reports and on the affective look by people wishing to be part of them, reflecting upon the foundation of both these groups, some of the work shown, and the work fronts in which they act.

The Emú Group talks particularly about the 2016 play Mercedes, which addresses the life and works of Mercedes Baptista, the first Black ballerina to dance at the Municipal Theatre of Rio de Janeiro. On the other hand, the Cia dos Comuns (Company of Commons) focuses its research on Black theatre as a way of tackling the historical wiping-out of the artistic contributions of Black people, as well as retracing the path of foundation of this group and also some works, such as Tragam-me a Cabeça de Lima Barreto (Bring Me Lima Barreto’s Head) which includes statements made by director Fernanda Julia Onisajé and actor Hilton Cobra.

The second programme that I have selected is an episode of the series De Onde se Vê (From Where You Can See), Dicções do Feminino (Dictions of the Feminine), which talks about theatrical plays directed by women like Mexican playwright Conchi León, who raises some thoughts about the mode of women’s representation and the way women are represented in dramaturgy. Just like them, these artists have created counter-narratives to tackle this, creating characters that talk about the feminine based on an experience of who inhabits this body, we women, talking in the first person through poetry.

The third programme is a webdoc about the Odyssey, presented by the Hiato Group, of São Paulo, based on Homer’s work that gives its name to the work. In this presentation, Odysseus, also known as Ulysses in the play, spends one decade at the Trojan War and takes another ten years to find his family again. The video shows some excerpts of the enactment and shows the way in which the main work is reinterpreted by actors and actresses, based on some real statements they have shared, this procedure being very common in this theatre group that works with self-fiction, risky territory if we think about dramaturgy.  However, this group is always at the service of the universalisation of whatever is portrayed on stage, bringing pungent issues of our times, in friction with other times and other works, be they literary or theatrical. They do this based on real statements, drawing a thin line between reality and fiction. In this way, here I finalise my impressions and once again invite you all to go deep into this digital collection, opening the windows and doors of perception. Evoé!

Dione Carlos
Actress, playwright, plot writer, and theatre curator