The Dutch company Wunderbaum, attraction of the Curitiba Festival, has created a work inspired by the stories of the city’s population
On the one hand, the construction of Federal University of Paraná. On the other hand, the Guaira Theater, one of the largest in Brazil, with 2,100 seats. Popular restaurants and shops, a hotel and the headquarters of the Post Offices and Telegraphs complete the surroundings of Praça Santos Andrade, in the central region of Curitiba, with its intense flow of passers-by, cars and buses. This was the scenario that inspired the Dutch company wunderbaum create Squareshow presented between Thursday 30 and Saturday 1 at the 31st Curitiba Theater Festival.
Founded 22 years ago, the collective based in Rotterdam he conceives his works based on the places where they will be presented and the experience of the local inhabitants. Captained by six Dutch artists, Walter Bart, Wine Dierickx, Matijs Jansen, Maartje Remmers, Marleen Scholten and Maarten van Otterdijk, the troupe features two Brazilians, actors from Rio Monique Vaille AND Pedro Uchoacollaborators for six years. The repertoire consists of one-off pieces that exist only in that particular territory and start afresh on the next stage, be it the street or a conventional theatre. When Square will debut in Rotterdam, in September, for example, it will be another show, supported by the information of a new square.
Monique and Uchoa arrived in Curitiba in February to conduct interviews and choose the supporting cast recruited in each city. Of the two hundred registered, thirty people, aged between 20 and 62, from students to retirees, were screened. In common, they all had a narrative involving the Santo Andrade Square. “We found it difficult to ensure representativeness, covering all races, genders and profiles, but I think we managed to make a good selection,” says Monique. “Perhaps this diversity is not even the representation of Curitiba, but it certainly is of Brazil.”
Among the stories are the young man who accompanied his brother, a freshman in medical school, on his first day of class and the woman who regularly watched another man feed the pigeons and, one day, they started dating. There are those who have seen the sun rise on the banks of the Holy Andrade after the ballad and others who mention the place as a point of political demonstrations since the 80’s. who has the experience,” explains Monique.
The actress, who joined wunderbaum after participating in a workshop in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, he says that the current theme is justified by the squares that represent democratic places and easy to socialize. “All the bubbles come together and can live in relative harmony in this grand celebration of the chaos that lives in society,” Monique says. The audience, seated on the university steps, follows everything through headphones, and the show ends when, in the midst of the natural movement, the audience begins to get confused as to who is an artist or a simple passerby.
This is the group’s second visit to the Curitiba party. In 2018 they presented the montage at the Sesc da Esquina Let’s do it ourselves (Let’s Do It Ourselves), which urged the public to take the lead in social action and not just wait for the government. Behind the scenes of the preparation of Square a documentary was born which will be released in July and, for a new visit to Brazil, who knows in 2024, the wunderbaum he dreams of passing through São Paulo for the first time. A new version of Square would be created under the inspiration of mythical squares, such as See Or the Republic. “It’s a desire we’ve had for a while, but it’s a great team that comes from Europe and more selected people in the city, everyone gets paid, nobody works for free,” warns Monique.
Source: Terra
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