

Five hours of Brazilian anarchist theater that will unmake you and remake you stranger.
Dedicated to "the creation of an heroic and anti-heroic attitude of those that go to war and say: Farewell Man!," the theatrical version of the second movement of the second part of Os Sertões presents the passage from the re-volted man to the trans-man, creator of an alternate possibility for human adventure on Earth. From the story of Antônio Conselheiro, all theater relives its seminal death: a common man who, out of love, transmutes into an anti-messianic leader, gathering a legion of "sertanejos," roots of solidarity in the inlands of Bahia who, in a community effort, raise dams, churchs, and cemiteries. The community had at one point 25 thousand inhabitants, in its days the second largest city of Bahia. Capuchin Friars attempted to disperse the people of Canudos "diplomatically." Their denial to obey the official religious order led the Evangelist Friar to damn the followers of Antônio Conselheiro in the name of Jesus. The City prepares for war.
Direction
José Celso's anarchic staging that dissolves actor and audience.
Production
Five-hour endurance ritual as aesthetic choice, not indulgence.
Writing
Euclides da Cunha's prose weaponized for the stage.
Director
Henrique Palazzo
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Canudos was real: 25,000 sertanejos massacred by Brazilian military 1896-97. Euclides da Cunha's account became the 'Bible of Brazilian nationality.'
Zé Celso's Teatro Oficina pioneered 'environmental theater' in Brazil—this staging likely surrounded spectators, dissolving fourth wall into ritual space.
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