A group of avant-garde artists go to the Amazon to record an ecological soap opera, sponsored by many of the biggest multinationals in the “late-capitalist” world. The show has two parallel narratives: the relationships between the artists and the plot of the soap opera. But they will blend together. The group of artists who are recreating a forest exploitation enterprise that took place in the past make their acting so realistic that they end up killing animals, cutting down trees, hunting down the indigenous people and, in the end, reducing the Amazon to ashes. One of the artists rushes in and anticipates the end of the story: a collective suicide. Amazónia is a show in which the arrival of the end of the world is accelerated.
The show unfolds in a loop, successively restarting a scene in which a family is having breakfast. Since it wouldn’t make sense to deal with an ecological theme without being ecological, we followed strict principles of saving raw materials. We borrowed the scenery and light design, glued together songs that already existed, repeated ideas from other shows and reused costumes. Various objects play characters.
text and direction Jorge Andrade, with assistance from Maria Jorge ‧ with Bruno Huca, Isabél Zuaa, Jani Zhao, Jorge Andrade, Marco Mendonça, Tânia Alves and Welket Bungué ‧ set design and costumes José Capela ‧ soundtrack Rui Lima and Sérgio Martins ‧ light Rui Monteiro ‧ stage photography José Carlos Duarte ‧ promotional image Marta Ramos ‧ promotional video Jorge Jácome and Marta Simões ‧ production direction Joana Costa Santos ‧ production Luna Rebelo ‧ production assistance and communication Jonathan da Costa ‧ management and programming consultancy Vânia Rodrigues ‧ coproduction São Luiz Teatro Municipal (included in Lisbon Ibero-American Capital of Culture 2017), Teatro Municipal do Porto - Rivoli/Campo Alegre and Theatro Circo ‧ residency O Espaço do Tempo ‧
November 9 to 19, 2017 ‧ São Luiz Teatro Municipal (Lisbon)
November 24 and 25, 2017 ‧ Theatro Circo (Braga)
January 26 and 27, 2018 ‧ Teatro Municipal do Porto – Rivoli
September 7 and 8, 2018 ‧ Teatro Municipal Braz Cubas . Mirada Festival (São Paulo, Brazil)
September 12 and 13, 2018 ‧ SESC Vila Mariana (São Paulo, Brazil)
September 29, 2018 ‧ Centro Cultural Vila Flor (Guimarães)
October 5, 2018 ‧ Cine-Teatro Louletano (Loulé)