Boys in Brazil: Brasil blog 1

Monday 20th July 2009

Blog Category: Brasil Blog

They spell Brazil, Brasil in Brasil. It’s not a spelling mistake. My computer always wants to correct words with like ‘organise’ and ‘realise’ replacing the ‘s’ with a ‘z’. This is the North American way of spelling things. Maybe that’s why Brasil is spelt Brazil in the US and in the UK.  Maybe it’s because the US wants us to spell it their way. I do like the sound of ‘z’ it makes a word hum and vibrate. Brasil is a vibrant place.

I’m in Brasil with Jez Colborne and Matt Hargrave from the University of Northumbria. Matt is studying for a PhD in Theatre and Learning Disability. Jez is already checking out where to buy combat gear. He says he doesn’t want to change his name to Jes!

The last time I was in Brasil was in 1993. I took part in an international festival of Theatre of the Oppressed. It was a huge celebration. Fifteen years on and this gathering has a feeling of sadness about it. Augusto Boal died earlier this year. It feels like we are without a great presence.

Yesterday we practiced a song about Boal which we are going to sing at the opening this evening. We sang in Portuguese, English, French, German and Spanish. I’m not very good at singing and I thought that the song would sound really bad. But when we sang together we sounded brilliant.

Jez:  We waited an age at baggage. I thought there was going to be short of shorts.

Matt:  In case anyone is jealous of our trip  - it is now raining in Rio!

Tim: Someone once said that theatre is a meeting place of orphans. I’m not sure who said it. If no one claims it in the next 10 days then I said it!

View list of all blog categories