Manaus Ágil tourism and culture in AmazonasWith overall conception by actor Lázaro Ramos, the play marked the company's 25th anniversary by denouncing slaughters that take the lives of young black men in favelas.
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(Photo: Divulgation/Andréa Magnoni)
For the first time in Manaus, the Bahia's theater company Teatro Olodum presents the play "Erêon 5, 6 and April 7 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), at the Installation Theater. The program offered by the company also includes workshops at the cultural centers Palace of Justice e Rio Negro Palace. The show, which has the support of the State Secretariat of Culture (SEC), has accessibility features (pounds and audio description), free admission and free rating.
On Friday and Saturday, the play "Erê" will have sessions at 4pm and 8pm, and on Sunday at 7pm. The show was staged in 2015 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the creation of Bando de Teatro Olodum, denouncing the massacres that take the lives of young black people.
With 16 actors on stage, bringing together the company's veterans and new actors, plus guest actor Rui Manthur, partner and friend of the Bando, the play has a general conception by actor Lázaro Ramos, direction by Fernanda Júlia and Zebrinha (who also signs the choreography), dramaturgy by Daniel Arcades and musical direction by Jarbas Bittencourt.
The staging is inspired by the show "Erê pra toda a vida/Xirê", created by Bando de Teatro Olodum itself, for participation in the Carlton Dance Festival, in 1996, with presentations in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and a tour through London, without ever having been presented in Salvador.
Denouncing the system
Actor Ridson Reis, who is part of the company, highlights that the cast is happy and anxious for the premiere in Manaus and for the presentation of a work so relevant to the country.
"In this work, we make an overview since 1990 of the killings that have occurred, and still occur, against black youth in various places in Brazil. We are talking about a pertinent subject, but we are also bringing to the audience a very beautiful and moving theatrical performance. We hope the audience will meet and leave the theater reflective and amazed at the same time", she says.
According to Reis, the massacres exposed in the show denounce a flawed system and make sure that tragedies are not forgotten. "I believe that it is pertinent and almost impossible not to use art as a tool to transform society and human beings. Slaughters like the ones we remember in the show need to be always on the agenda so that we don't forget how flawed and genocidal our system is and how it chooses its targets. With this, we try not to let the subject become an archive and fall into oblivion," he declares.
Chacinas
"They say that when an old man dies, a library is lost. And when a young person is killed prematurely, who cares about this unwritten notebook? Bando de Teatro Olodum's new production is more political and brings to light the various slaughters that targeted young people and black children, such as those of Candelária (RJ), Cabula (SSA), Vigário Geral (RJ), Favela Naval (Diadema-SP) and Acari (RJ).
In the show, the company highlights cases such as that of the Nova Brasília shantytown, in the Complexo do Alemão Complex in Rio de Janeiro, when 13 people were killed in a single police action in 1994, and another 13 six months later. To this day, no guilty party has been punished. Tragedies like this led the country to be denounced in international bodies such as the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations (UN).
"Years have passed, these massacres continue and the black theater continues to denounce them. They are boys dying, erês without becoming older," says Fernanda Júlia, who adds her experience at the head of NATA (Núcleo Afro-Brasileiro de Teatro de Alagoinhas), founded in 1998, to the talent of the cast and directors of Bando de Teatro Olodum, created eight years before the group from Alagoinhas.
"The Bando influenced NATA and now NATA returns to dialogue with the Bando with all that it was influenced by," says Daniel Arcades, another member of NATA. "Lázaro Ramos has been the provocateur, who gives the political path, and I am building the situations, the scenes, trying out the words in the actors' mouths. The partnership has been fantastic", he highlights.
Workshops
The group also offers the free workshop "Black Performance", on April 6th and 7th (Saturday and Sunday), from 9am to noon, taught by Bando, involving theater, dance, music, and memory and identity.
The workshops take place at the Palácio da Justiça Cultural Center (Theater Workshop), at the Palácio Rio Negro Cultural Center (Music Workshop), at the Cine Teatro Guarany (Memory and Identity), and at the Instalação Theater itself (Dance Workshop). Registration for the workshops can be made through the link bit.ly/OficinasEre.
The circulation of the show "Erê, in the North of the country, was contemplated by the Petrobras Distribuidora de Cultura Program 2017/2018, a public selection that aims to contemplate projects for the circulation of theater performances not unpublished, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture. In the last call for projects, R$15 million were invested. In all, 57 shows were chosen, representing all regions of the country, with presentations in all states.
Complete program:
Friday (5/4)
"Erê" - 1st session at 4 pm
"Erê" - 2nd show at 20h
Saturday (6/4)
Theater Workshop - Palácio da Justiça Cultural Center - 9am to noon
Music Workshop - Palácio Rio Negro Cultural Center - 9am to noon
Memory and Identity Workshop - Cine Teatro Guarany - from 9 a.m. to noon
Dance Workshop - Installation Theater - 9 a.m. to noon
"Erê" - 1st session at 4pm
"Erê" - 2nd session at 20h
Sunday (7/4)
Theater Workshop - Cultural Center Palácio da Justiça - 9am to noon
Music Workshop - Cultural Center Palácio Rio Negro - from 9 a.m. to noon
Memory and Identity Workshop - Cine Teatro Guarany - from 9am to noon
Dance Workshop - Teatro da Instalação - 9 a.m. to noon
"Erê" - Last performance, at 7pm
With information from the press
