São Paulo – The trip of emperor D. Pedro II to Lebanon in 1876 is the starting point for a theater play that will celebrate, on September 29th, in the city of São Paulo, the more than 135 years of Lebanese immigration in Brazil. The celebration has been organized every year by the Brazilian-Lebanese Cultural Association, an institution that promotes the approximation between the cultures of the two countries. The dramatic reading will take place at Sesi-Fiesp theater at Paulista avenue.
According to the president of the association and organizer of the event, Lody Brais, the honoring to the immigration is “well deserved”. The trip by the emperor to Lebanon started the immigration process of Lebanese to the country. Today, there are eight million Lebanese and their descendants living in Brazil, the country with the largest Lebanese community”, said Lody to ANBA this Friday (21st).
The script and direction of the dramatic reading of “The welcome of the emperor” (Direct translation) are by playwright Samir Yazbek, who wrote the text at the request of Lody. “He’s been working on this project for three months. I asked him so he studied the immigration history and prepared this dramatic reading”, she said. The staging will be by actors Helio Cicero, Gabriela Flores, Eduardo Mossri and Henrique Zanoni, all from the Arnesto nos Convidou Theater Company.
D. Pedro II visited Egypt in 1871 and, in 1876, returned to the country. In the same trip, he got to know Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, the country in which he stayed from November 11th to 15th with an entourage of 200 people. “He went there to promote Brazil and to invite the Lebanese to come here, since he had good references from the Lebanese people and its contribution to Brazil”, said Lody. When D. Pedro II visited the Arab country, there were already Lebanese immigrants in Brazil, but only in small number. The migratory flow increased from 1880 on.
Every year the association celebrates the Lebanese immigration in Brazil. In 2013, the institution brought an exhibition with paintings and documents by the writer and painter Gibran Khalil Gibran. Last year, it organized a fashion show with authentic Lebanese clothing. Now, it will present Yazbek’s unreleased text. “The history of immigration is rich and I thought it was fair to bring something original to celebrate it”, said Lody.
Service:
Dramatic reading of “The welcome of the emperor” (Direct translation)
September 29th, at 8:30 PM
Sesi-Fiesp theater, Avenida Paulista, 1.313, Cerqueira César, São Paulo, SP
Free Admission
Information: 55 11 3289-1851
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
