Sonia Sobral

Taking place on a neutral empty stage, reduced to a pure place of address, IInvolontaires de la patrie goes back over the complex relationships between Brazilian Indians and the modern State: a story of domination seen through the postcolonial prism. Taking its elements from the speech of the Indian Ailton Krenak in front of the National Congress in 1987, or else the pamphlet by the anthropologist Eduardo Viveiros de Castro against the reduction of the rights of indigenous peoples in April 2016, this resolutely political performance expresses to what extent this quite clearly blocked situation is based on the utter negation of the will of the oppressed.

Fernanda Silva, a Brazilian actress and stage director, runs the Teatro Metáfora group, based in Parnaíba, at the extreme north of the country. Founded twenty-five years ago, it has since 2005 established itself as a site for active political resistance. She performs this piece created by Sonia Sobral who is a researcher and curator in the theatre and dance worlds. She has directed the national programmes “Rumos Dança” and “Rumos Teatro” at the Itaú Cultural Institute. She has been a dance programmer at the São Paulo Cultural Centre, and has also joined the team of the Panorama da Dança and of the Mostra Internacional de Teatro.