Somewhere

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This work was produced thanks to a collaboration between ‘Performa’ and a theater company called ‘Em Companhia de Estranhos’. The creative process developed in this case involved specific aspects, among them a field research. In fact, if on the one hand we used as a primary material a book by Oliver Sachs – Awakenings – on the other the direct contact with pacients who suffer from different kinds of mental diseases played a central role here.

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In the book referred to above, Sacks describes a process in which pacients who suffer from the so-called ‘sleeping sickness’, when treated with an experimental substance – L-Dopa – reacted temporarily, they seemed to ‘awake’. However, as described by Dr Sachs, such a reaction did not last, and some days later the same pacients returned to their previous condition.

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This production focused on these transitions, that is to say, on the period in which such pacients seemed to have suddenly awakened. In this sense, besides the work on mimesis, developed on different levels, the creative processes carried out here encompassed a deep exploration of the tension between identity and alterity.

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This production was awarded the ‘Best Physical Theater Production Prize’ from the Physical Theater Festival promoted by Cultura Inglesa, in Brazil, and took part later in the International Fringe Festival of Edinburg, Scotland, getting a four-star review from The Scotsman's critics.

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Cast: Ana Galotti, Eduardo de Paula, Vera Canolli, Mara Leal and Matteo Bonfitto

Light Designer: Wagner Pinto

Sound Designer: Marcelo Pellegrini

Directed by Beth Lopes

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