RESEARCH
Vulcão’s research is anchored in three main subjects that are connected simultaneously: the transposition of literature master pieces to the stage, the investigation of women’s social role and the exploration of physical theatre as a dramaturgic tool to the actor.
Transposing literature master pieces to the stage is allowing the piece to manifest itself physically. In a dialogue between THEATER and LITERATURE, two different art forms that explore the human condition, we have the possibility to transform the individual experience of reading a book into a collective experience provided by watching a play.
Since 2010 the actress and director Vanessa Bruno develops an investigation on procedures that actors can use to work on stage based on texts by the Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector. Clarice’s narrative is not dramatic so there was a need to create and discover methods that actors could use to explore her writing on stage. In 2015 Vanessa completed a master's degree on Performing Arts at Escola de Comunicação e Artes of São Paulo University (ECA/USP). Her thesis was called "Clarice through the actor" and this investigation became a starting point for VULCÃO’s productions. Vanessa took these methods at first to create the play “THINKING GAME”, using 8 short stories by Clarice Lispector to build a show for children and parents. Later on, she expanded the investigation when she directed the monologues “PULSE – from life and work of Sylvia Plath”, with the actress Elisa Volpatto, “THE PAIN – from La Douleur by Marguerite Duras”, with the actress Rita Grillo and "WATERS OF THE WORLD – from Clarice Lispector’s work", which completes the TRILOGY of MONOLOGUES.
For members of VULCÃO, aside this artistic research, it has been essential to think about the social environment of women of our time. Apart from the aesthetic perspective, VULCÃO is interested in the social debate provoked by Lispector’s, Plath’s and Duras’s words discussing subjects such as gender, representation and validation of the roles occupied by women in our society.
In addition to all that, the company has developed an investigation on how actors can conduct the narrative through their physical constructions, not only through the text. A physical preparation conducted by Movement Director Livia Vilela through the “Klauss Vianna’s Technique” (TKV) generates a complete autonomy and body consciousness for actors so that they can find specific ways of telling a story using their physicality and going beyond the text itself. Livia is a specialist in the Klauss Vianna’s Technique (TKV), which was created by this Brazilian choreographer in 1940’s. This technique helps actors and dancers using their articulation, their weight, their muscles in order to have a complete consciousness on their body possibilities. Livia studied TKV at PUC University, in São Paulo and has just finishing her master’s degree of Performing Arts at Escola de Comunicação e Artes of São Paulo University (ECA/USP). Her research has also been a strong support for the creative work of VULCÃO.
Over the years members of VULCÃO have also promoted several Workshops where they can share their research with other interested artists.
[VULCÃO TALKS]
This activity, that takes place just after the end of the play, consists of a conversation between members of VULCÃO, the audience and a guest (who can be another director, an actor, a psychologist, a writer, a philosopher…) in a way that everyone could contribute on its impressions about the work they just saw, according to each one specific background. This activity amplifies in many senses the experience brought by watching the play and helps create critical thought.
The first edition of VULCÃO TALKS happened in 2016, during PULSE run at Eugênio Kusnet Arena Theater. The directors Emerson Danesi, Malú Bazán, César Baptista, the actors Gabriel Miziara and Natalia Gonsales and the playwrigth Marina Corazza talked about procedures they use to work with literature on stage. The second edition happened during THE PAIN run at Pequeno Ato Theater and had the participation of writers Andrea del Fuego and Maurício Ayer and the professor Clayton Veronese to talk about “Female literature on stage and the autobiographical writing of Marguerite Duras”.
In 2017, during PULSE run at Cemitério de Automóveis Theater, there were 4 encounters:
“The monologue as a screaming: oppressed voices ought to be heard” – with actress Amanda Lyra
“Transposing literature master pieces to the stage and feminist activism in theater” – with the reviewer Carmelinda Guimarães
“Gender dispute – Sylvia Plath yesterday and nowadays” – with the psychologist Maria do Socorro Prado and the psychoanalysis specialist Silvia Marina de Melo Paiva
“Domestic oppression in Sylvia Plath’s era” – with the playwright Dione Carlos
Still in 2017, during the second run of THE PAIN at Pequeno Ato Theater, there were 4 encounters:
“What changes in the narrative with a female author?” – with the journalist Kyra Piscitelli
“Why the war nowadays?” - with the psychoanalysis specialist Lélia Reis
“When my own pain is a resistance to dictatorships” – with the historian Cássia Oliveira
“The limits between reality and fiction” – with actress Janaina Leite
In 2018, during PULSE run at Zona Franca Theater, VULCÃO TALKS
happened with the sociologist Carla Cristina Garcia to discuss feminist resistance in Sylvia Plath’s writing.
In 2019, during presentations of PULSE and WATERS OF THE WORLD in Recife, there were 3 encounters:
“A reverse Odyssey – women liberation” - with the filmmaker Taciana Oliveira;
“'Beyond the Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath and female representativeness in literature” - with writer Camila de Matos;
“'I, woman, poet - from Sylvia Plath to us” - with poet Renata Santana.
We also count on journalist and filmmaker Adriano Portela to do the mediation on these discussions.
Still in 2019, during the TRILOGY of MONOLOGUES at Teatro de Contêiner, the debates were as follows:
“Lispector’s reverse Odissey” – with screenwriter Josefina Trotta and the director and screenwriter Marcela Lordy;
“From Sylvia to us – possible changes” – with filmmaker Paula Sacchetta;
“Woman political eye during war” – with writer Carla Kinzo.
In the same year, write after ORLANDX’s open rehearsal at Festival MIX BRASIL, we had the debate:
“Otherness Exercise: Identity Constructions in Orlando” – with writer Raimundo Neto.
VULCÃO intends to continue with this activity, considered of great importance, in order to deepen its artistic research and expand the discussion on each piece, creating a significant exchanging of experiences between artists and society.
TRAINING
In 2016, during its Artistic Residence at Programa Obras em Construção of Casa das Caldeiras, in São Paulo, VULCÃO started a regular training with invited actors from different backgrounds. This training consists of vocal, physical and theoretical studies in order to create a discipline of practicing and learning together. Five different activities happen during this training, which are: body studies based on Klauss Vianna’s Technique (TKV), conducted by Livia Vilela; vocal technique, led by Elisa Volpatto; scene creation and procedures for transposing literature to the stage, with Vanessa Bruno; study of theoretical references, guided by Paulo Salvetti and finally Viewpoints Method guided by guest actor Oliver Tibeau. This TRAINING is a way of being constantly feeding our bodies and minds to expand our knowledge while exchanging experiences with other artists.
Developed together with artist Lucas Pretti, the project was first held in September 2018. It consists of a dinner served by members of VULCÃO for all those who like and want to think and talk. A meeting between individuals and thinkers. An encounter opened to
discussion, to feed everyone by mind and mouth. A social experimentation and a micropolitical action.
RUMINATE, in its first edition, welcomed guests into Casa das Caldeiras’s kitchen for a thought-dinner where they read excerpts from Virginia Woolf's “A Room of one’s own”, Virginie Despentes’s “King Kong Theory”, “O que é lugar de fala”, by Djamila Ribeiro and also watched some scenes from Chantal Akerman's film "Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles". These works where the trigger for a discussion about the limits of women's social place. The dinner, the words and the exchange among those people fed their minds and made everyone “ruminate” on urgent matters of our time.
RUMINATE
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