The festival that happens on 13 and 14 June 2019 will celebrate Brazilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues

The festival will celebrate playwright Nelson Rodrigues (1912-1980), one of the most prominent names in the history of Brazilian theatre. As we launch the volume Nelson Rodrigues – Selected Plays, published by Oberon Books, we will be presenting a dramatic reading and a film screening of The Wedding Dress, a landmark in Brazilian dramaturgy, and promoting roundtable discussions on the importance of Nelson Rodrigues as a playwright and his presence on British stages.

The festival is the brainchild of Sacha Rodrigues, the playwright’s grandson, and Ramiro Silveira, head of the BA World Performance course at East15 – University of Essex, who will both be participating in the festival. It is organised by the Embassy of Brazil in London and Brazilian production company Turbilhão de Ideias Entretenimentos.

Other confirmed participants include the English translators of Nelson Rodrigues – Selected Plays, as well as Professor Catherine Boyle, from Kings College, Marta Fernandez, from PUC-RJ, Luis Artur Nunes, who wrote the introduction for the book, David Treece, from Kings College,  Rosemary Klich, head of research of East15 – University of Essex and Chris Main, director of East15.

Objects having belonged to Nelson Rodrigues and replicas of portraits by Candido Portinari of members of the Rodrigues family will be in exhibition.

13 June

• 18:00 – Welcoming drinks
• 18:30 – Launch of the volume Nelson Rodrigues – Selected Plays, by Oberon Books
• 19:00 – Dramatic reading of The Wedding Dress, directed by Ramiro Silveira with live music by conductor Stephen Douse

14 June

• 14:00 – Roundtable discussion: The relevance of the theatrical work of Nelson Rodrigues, his themes and style, with the guests: Luis Artur Nunes, theatre director and researcher, former professor at UNIRIO, Marta Fernandez, professor and head of the Institute of International Relations at PUC-RJ, David Treece, professor at Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at King’s College and Ramiro Silveira, head of BA World Performance at East15-University of Essex. 
• 16:00 – Roundtable discussion: Nelson Rodrigues’s theatre in English: how to make it work on stage? With Almiro Andrade, PhD in translation by Kings College and translator of Nelson Rodrigues – Selected Plays, Susannah Finzi – Playwright and translator of Nelson Rodrigues – Selected Plays, William Gregory – translator, member of Out of Wings, Ibero American Theatre Collective based at King’s College London and Professor Catherine Boyle, researcher and professor at Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at King’s College London.
• 18:00 – Keynote speech by Professor Catherine Boyle.
• 19:00 – Screening of the film The Wedding Dress, directed by Joffre Rodrigues, starring Marília Pêra, Letícia Sabatella and Marcos Winter.

When: June 13th and 14th
Where: Embassy of Brazil, 14-16 Cockspur Street | SW1Y 5BL