São Paulo – On Friday (31) in São Paulo a theatre play will open that has great chances of appealing to people, not just due to the story and interpretation, but also due to its flavour. While she tells the story of Arab immigrants who came to Brazil, actress Valéria Arbex cooks on stage and prepares typical dishes for the audience in play “Salamaleque”. The play has the support of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. It will be acted out until August in a project by Cia. Teatral Damasco, which will also include talks and workshops.
“I have always been interested in the history of immigrants. When my grandmother died, I read the love letters she and my grandfather exchanged when they were dating. That pushed me to try to understand the Arab culture even further and I started interviewing immigrants, talking to my relatives about their memories. I noticed that the stories almost always had something to do with cuisine. I therefore decided to try to tell the stories of these immigrants while cooking on scene,” said Arbex.
Throughout the play, the actress is alone on the stage. Right at the beginning of the presentation, she announces to the audience that she is getting ready for a celebration, and she then starts telling the stories of Arab immigrants based on the love letters exchanged by her grandparents, who were born in Yabroud, Syria. Her grandfather came to Brazil in the 1920s and moved to Pirajú. Her grandmother arrived in Brazil in 1939 and moved to Cerqueira César which, like Pirajú, is in the interior of the state of São Paulo. They exchanged correspondence from their early dating to their wedding.
Character Elizete narrates the story of immigrants in a scenery that represents a kitchen, while preparing baba ghanoush, hummus and curds. She also produces flavoured water and bakes bread. When the dishes are ready, the spectators are invited to taste the delicacies prepared by the actress. “In the play, I try to work aspects like affective memory, orality, gastronomy and also politics. There are also mixed images regarding the Arabs, not limited to kibbehs, safihas and violence. In the play I speak to the audience, I call people to celebrate that moment,” she says.
Apart from enacting “Salamaleque”, Cia. de Teatro de Damasco should promote workshops and talks while the play is on. The spectacle won the 2012 Myriam Muniz Funarte Theatre Award, granted to plays throughout the country, but which requires a counterpart. As part of these counterparts there will be workshops on gastronomy and production of text, as well as talks about the play’s creation process, affective memory, health of immigrants, the part played by women, and also about movie “Constantino”, by Otávio Cury, released in 2012. “Salamaleque” is directed by Denise Weinberg and Kiko Marques.
Service
Salamaleque
From May 31st to August 18th
Fridays and Saturdays, at 9:00 pm. Sundays, at 7:00 pm
Viga Espaço Cênico – Rua Capote Valente, 1.323, Sumaré, São Paulo, SP.
Further information at telephone (+55 11) 3801-1843
R$ 20 (US$ 10) or R$ 10 (US$ 5, for a discount ticket)
*Translated by Mark Ament
