Unicamp - Press Room

Memory takes the stage
Theatrical group formed by Unicamp alumni stands out at festival
and wins national award

Qhen a group of former students from the Institute of Arts sought support from the Unicamp Memory Center (CMU), they certainly could not have imagined that some time later they would stand out in one of the most important events in the country: the FIT (Belo International Theater Festival). Horizonte), and that one of their works would win the EnCena Brasil Award, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, which would finance two of the group's shows. The Memory Center ended up accepting the proposal as long as the group, then called Grupo do Santo, developed projects that also involved research with a scientific basis.

And so it was done. The first show entirely put on by the group was Retrato na Janela, immediately followed by O Boi falô? and Museu De Ver Cidade, which has just opened in the city, all developed

collectively – from the conception of the idea, text, costumes, music and sets. A year and a half ago, the Memory Center began providing theoretical guidance to the group, which has support from the Dean of Extension and Community Affairs.
The group is made up of Ana Caldas Lewinsohn, Carlos Gomes, Cecílio Fraguas, Eduardo Brasil, Lidiane Lobo, Lilian Marques and Tânia Grinberg, all graduated from Unicamp. The basis of Grupo do Santo’s work is the direct relationship with the viewer. It was in street performances – squares and open spaces on the outskirts – that the research began.

The shows are not just a figment of imagination. Or inspiration. The conception of the show, as explained by professor Olga von Simson, scientific coordinator of the project, “is based on the experience acquired in different spaces, in meeting and exchanging experiences, interviewing local residents, observing the world in which we live and the relationships that are mutually established”, says Olga.

Professor Olga von Simson (left) and members of the Santo Group: research work

This Grupo do Santo experience began in Diamantina, Minas Gerais. After brief but intense research into the way of life, customs and culture of the city's people, the street show Retrato na Janela emerged, “which tells the story of people who, upon meeting the postman, express their desire to receive some news, sharing our longing, experiences and desires with him.”

“It is a show that continues to be presented in the most different spaces in Campinas and also in other cities”, says Ana Lewinsohn. It was then that, with the support of the Centro de Memória, Grupo do Santo put together another show: O Boi Falô?, at the request of the Municipal Secretariat of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the City of Campinas, with the purpose of being presented in entertainment establishments. teaching in the district of Barão Geraldo. Inspired by a legend by Barão Geraldo, the show tells of a Friday, in the Barão's time, when an ox spoke to a slave. The story is told by a traveler who arrives in the city on the day of the Boi Falô festival, celebrated with huge pasta served on the street.

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Money, loneliness and diversity

Ana Caldas Lewinsohn stars opposite Carlos Gomes: direct relationship with the public

More recently, in the last semester, the group created the third show. It is Museu De Ver Cidade, directed by Tiche Vianna, former professor at Unicamp's Institute of Arts (IA), and is now being presented in closed spaces such as Barracão Teatro. “The initial proposal was for the group to work with the memory of the Barão Geraldo district, through interviews with former residents, as was done in Diamantina. To this end, extensive research work was carried out in the collections of the Memory Center in search of information about the beginning of the history of the district, how it was formed, type of population, the arrival of Unicamp, the impact this brought to the community and the transformations that it suffered with the arrival of high-technology companies”, says professor Olga.

What sparked the research in the district was the desire to talk about the world and not specifically about Barão Geraldo. What was detected there, in that microcosm, was social difference, educational diversity and a series of conflicts that occur anywhere in the world. Like misery, fear, violence, loneliness and the issue of money.

“And from then on, we started to investigate and ask what, in fact, we wanted to talk about”, observes Lílian Marques. With this material in hand, they set out to create individual scenes, highlighting social, urban and conflict experiences, disagreements and even encounters and disagreements.

“The text of Museu De Ver Cidade ends up being a part of the dramaturgy, even because the show is very visual, since we try to work more with this type of material than with the word as a primordial element in the narrative”, reveals Eduardo Brasil . He also says that what is presented is not a story that develops through words, but images that follow one another, forming a story that the audience can perhaps build in their imagination and reflect on what is happening. seeing. “There are a series of situations that we bring up in a way that is sometimes comical, sometimes not so much. Our main concern is to provoke the public to reflect on their own history”, concludes Tânia.

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