EL NIŇO IN BRASILIA

1th and 2nd October 2005 the performance "El niňo" was presented twice during Festival Internacional de Teatro de Brasilia Cena Contemporanea in Brazil. Author's performances by Marcin Herich was entertained already in Brazil two times before (2001, Londrina & 2002, Belo Horizonte was presented performance "Femina"). Theatre of Marcin Herich is probable the most often presented Polish experimental theatre in this country. Presentations of "El niňo" in Brasilia were the result of half year co-production with Brazilian partner: Cena Promocoes Culturais. The shows in Brasilia were watching by over thousand spectators.





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WITHOUT HALF-WORDS (Renata Caldas, "Correio Braziliense")

The climate is dense and cloudy. On the street-asphalt a light circle is projected onto a couple who walks as Roberto Carlos' song plays on. Suddenly, another light changes the focus to a red lighted area where 5 persons are selling sex. The atmosphere is sadomasochist. Two couples grab each other. In the centre a man dressed in woman's intimate underwear masturbates himself. The sound-track now is loud classic music. After a while water falls on all the characters. The scene's impact reaches the audience who vibrates at each appearance of the Stowarszyszenie Teatralne A Part. The company came from Poland exclusively in order to make two presentations at the CENA CONTEMPORANEA.
Blue siren lights limit the performing area. A crowd full of curiosity watches the show from two seat stands facing each other in the parking lot of the FUNARTE art complex.
Part of the public sat on the ground or had to stand in order to see "El niňo", first international attraction of the Cena Contemporanea Festival. The place was crowded with around 600 persons on Saturday night. Scheduled to present on Friday, the show had to be cancelled because of the rain and it was postponed to Sunday night.
Water, dirt, smoke and a lot of fire are the four elements which punctuate the performance.
"El niňo" uses also a large amount of blood during the presentation. There are 9 actors performing on the street stage. In different moments corpses are carried, hanged or pulled on the ground in black plastic bags. War and deceases are also themes of this wordless play.
" It is a bit morbid and I couldn't understand it very well. But the scenery was very beautiful", says the 39 years old architect Mario Viggiano. His friend Fabiano Castro, 26, said that he liked the local structure: "I was tense throughout the whole play, it touched my nerves". Teyla Boaventura, 27, had doubts wither she did or did not like the show.
"The visual is very surprising but the story is too heavy. I imagine it is about a man and a woman who get involved with each other with luxury and start spreading deceases
among humanity".

War Scenery
The actors Ligia Cortez and Marcelo Lazzaratto (also director), participating of the festival
had to hush from Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, where they were presenting the play
"A ENTREVISTA" , in order to see "El niňo". "I don't know why, perhaps because Europe is the centre of so many wars that it produces this kind of artistic manifestations with this desperate scream. It seems that there always is something bigger than the individual ready to destroy any human being" thinks Lazaratto. Ligia Cortez finds the association of Europe and wars very frequent. "This universe is quite different from ours. In the European culture love is always submitted to violent situations. We face ourselves against this other look on human relations".
A large part of the audience was composed by university students. The foreign language student Eduardo Renno, 20, approved the stage design and stage construction. "I loved the show. It was able to explore very well on stage the messages, in a violent and awkward way. I had never seen anything so strong on stage". To the Anthropology student Felipe Jorge, 20, the performance was emotionant. "Both the visual images and the sound-track are full of impact." Marcus Siddartha is a student of theatre theory in UniRio (Rio de Janeiro)."The fact of making theatre in a place which is not a theatre brings out other values, like the 'here-and-now", he believes.
Marcin Herich, 36, director of the polish group, was satisfied with the public reactions and with the good weather of the Saturday night. About the new experience of using Roberto Carlos songs in this show, the director says: "It is very good to use this singer in contrast to the story we are telling". With a large smile, the director said the hopes to receive other invitations to present here in Brasilia again.
(Translation: Dimer Monteiro)