São Paulo – The International Theatre Biennial of the University of São Paulo (USP) has opened this Thursday (31st) in São Paulo and its programme will comprise three Arab theatrical plays. The stagings are originally from Lebanon, the West Bank, and Tunisia, and the Lebanese play kicked off the event. Plays from Brazil, Argentina, Slovenia and Croatia will also be staged. The biennial will continue until December 15th and will feature attractions other than theatre.<\/p>\n
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The Lebanese play featured is 66 Minutes in Damascus<\/em>. The proposal is very innovative and the play can only be watched by eight people per staging. The audience becomes a group of tourists who get arrested while visiting the Syrian capital, Damascus. The name of the play concerns its duration, which is 66 minutes. It will be performed in English and Arabic, and apart from this Thursday, it will be presented on November 1st, 2nd and 3rd at USP.<\/p>\n The play was written and directed by Lebanon’s Lucien Bourjeily especially for the London Festival last year. The text is based upon descriptions from journalists and activists who have been imprisoned in Syria. The author has won the best director prize for his debut film, Taht El Aaricha, at the Beirut International Film Festival, in 2008, and the Internacionalyce Performing Arts Prize, in 2009, for his innovative approach.<\/p>\n The play from the West Bank is The Island<\/em>, staged by The Freedom Theatre, a community theatre group based in a refugee camp in Jenin. The play is an adaptation of a true story set in South Africa during Apartheid, and focuses on the experiences of Palestinian political prisoners. The play will be performed in Arabic with Portuguese subtitles, and lasts one hour. The stagings will take place on December 6th, 7th and 8th at the USP campus and only people 18 or older will be allowed. <\/p>\n The goal of The Freedom Theatre is to train young people and women from the community to explore art’s potential to fuel social change. It was established in the late 80s by a Jewish revolutionary, Arna Mer-Khamis, who worked for human rights in occupied Palestine. Her son, Juliano Mer-Khamis, co-founder and general director of the theatre group, was murdered two years ago by an unknown man.<\/p>\n The other Arab play to be featured at USP is Macbeth: Leila & Bem – A Bloody History<\/em>, from Tunisia. It combines Shakespeare’s fiction with a documental work designed to question modern Arab politics. The spectacle is a free contemporary adaptation by the Tunisian group Artistes Producteurs Associés (apa) and its director Lofti Achour. They participated in the World Shakespeare Festival last year. The play will be staged in Arabic, with subtitles in Portuguese, on December 12th, 14th and 15th at Sesc Consolação.<\/p>\n Aside from the theatrical plays, a parallel program will feature lectures, debates and workshops at the USP campus and at other venues throughout the city, like Funarte, Sesc Consolação, the Jewish Culture Centre and Tenda Cultural Ortega & Gasset. The Arab groups and their directors will take part in these events (see full programme), and feature and short films about the people involved with the projects will be shown.<\/p>\n The event is themed Incendiary Realities<\/em>, and the focus is on recent global uprisings. According to information released by the organizers, the theme is inspired by the myth of Prometheus, the immortal titan who steals the fire from gods to give it as a gift to men, teaching them the arts of civilization and the means to survival. The event’s originator and general coordinator is Celso Frateschi. The curators are Deise Abreu Pacheco, Ferdinando Martins, Maria Tendlau and René Piazentin.<\/p>\n Service<\/strong>: *Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n
USP International Theatre Biennial – Incendiary Realities
October 31st to December 15th, 2013
Information: tuspmkt@usp.br. Tel. (+55 11) 3123-5233
Programme: http:\/\/www.usp.br\/bienaldeteatro\/2013\/<\/p>\n