Fictional Audiotours – works

FICTIONAL AUDIOTOUR (2005 – 2018)   ENTRE MUNDOS – diario de um Caraíba (Between worlds– diary of a Caraíba (shaman))   (SESC Bertioga (SP), Brazil, featured in the permanent program from 2008 until the end of 2009). (Update and tri-lingual version for the 6th International Conference on Environmental Education and Sustainability “Best of Both Worlds”, Bertioga, SP (Brazil). Featured in the permanent program since 2014.   Luis Mendes comes to visit the Sesc Bertioga to spend the holidays with his family. Then a recurring dream alters what were supposed to be days of tranquillity. He leaves a recording as a message in a bottle, inviting you to follow his footsteps to reveal a mystery. Indigenous legends, historical events and environmental details of the region take you on a journey between different worlds.   CAST 2014 (in 3 languages): Idea, direction and screenplay: Ariel Dávila + Christina Ruf (BiNeural-MonoKultur) Translation: Felipe França Gonzalez + Mark Eilers Original music and sound design: Guillermo Ceballos Research: Ariel Dávila, Christina Ruf + Felipe França Gonzalez Research consultants: Carlos Eduardo de Castro + the team at SESC Bertioga Cast of the Portuguese version: Carlos Morelli, Gui Martelli + Silvio Roupa Cast of the English version: Johnny Melville, Rodrigo Haddad + Soren Hellerup Cast of the Spanish version: Ieltxu Martinez Ortueta, Gui Martelli + Alejandro Lopez Special participation: Sofia de Figueiredo Galante + Marcelo Bookerman Realization by: BiNeural-MonoKultur, Difusa Fronte(i)ra + SESC Bertioga   CAST 2008: Idea, script and direction: Ariel Dávila and Christina Ruf (BiNeural-MonoKultur) Translation: Felipe França Gonzalez Original music and sound design: Guillermo Ceballos Research: Ariel Dávila, Christina Ruf and Felipe França Gonzalez Research advice: Carlos Eduardo de Castro and the team at SESC Bertioga. Cast: Bruno Fracchia (Luis Mendes), Marcelo Bokermann (Cunhambebe), Silvio Roupa (narrator). Participation: Sofia de Figueiredo Galante (daughter of Luis Mendes) General production: Felipe França Gonzalez Co-production: BiNeural-Monokultur, Difusa Fronte(i)ra and Sesc Bertioga.   RESEARCH: In the case of “Between Worlds”, the research was extensive and extremely interesting. The SESC Bertioga requested that we deal with an ecological theme, as the unit is located in a region that still contains remnants of the Atlantic Forest; they also have various ecological projects, such as a reserve and a protection for native flora and fauna on its premises. On the other hand we also studied the history and culture of the region, which can be considered one of the most historic in Brazil, situated just a few miles away from San Vicente, the first city founded by the Portuguese conquistadores. There is also the historical story of the German Hans Staden who encountered the Tupi, a cannibal tribe that inhabited the area. We read about the mythological beings of the forest and about the culture of the local indigenous peoples, such as the story of the famous chief Cunhambebe, who appears to our fictional character in a somewhat dreamlike encounter. We had the opportunity to visit a Guarani reserve in the region and there a Pagé (shaman) told us about their ability to direct their dreams towards helping them solve their daily problems. Part of the fictional story was inspired by a scene from a story by a science fiction author that we admire greatly, Ray Bradbury, where a sort of time warp occurs. In the end, the fictional narrative in this Fictional Audiotour is more subtle; the character is a completely normal person who goes through some, let’s say, “ancestral” experiences, and enters into a form of communication with the local ancient cultures and the surrounding natural world, embarking on a journey through time and between different worlds. This work has a much more dreamlike, poetic character than the previous Audiotours.  

FICTIONAL AUDIOTOUR (2005 – 2018)   A Máquina do Tempo (The time machine) (In the social programming for ICSEMIS (the International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport), an event that preceded the Paralympic Games of Rio de Janeiro. Mirada – Ibero-American Festival of Performing Arts. Santos, SP (Brazil). 2016)   Nuno, the grandson of a Portuguese immigrant, has come from São Paulo to Santos on business. But something is keeping him from progressing with his tasks, he begins to suffer “dischronies”, leaps through time that throw him back into the past. Could it have something to do with the favor that his grandfather asked him? Nuno leaves a recording for his business partner, Marcelo, inviting him to follow his footsteps through the Historical Center of Santos.   CAST: Idea, direction and screenplay: Ariel Dávila + Christina Ruf (BiNeural-MonoKultur) Original music and sound design: Guillermo Ceballos Research: Ariel Dávila, Christina Ruf Translation into Portuguese and research advice: Alessandro Atanes Translation into English: Mark Eilers Voice Nuno – Portuguese version: Carlos Morelli Voice Nuno – English version: Eric Moore Thanks to: Fabrício Lopez, Dona Neusa, O Rei do Café, Bolsa de Café. Co-production by: BiNeural-MonoKultur + Difusa Fronte(i)ra Realization by: SESC Santos   RESEARCH: This edition of the Fictional Audiotour takes place in the historical center of Santos. The city has a rich history dating back to the founding of its port which has always been Brazil’s most important port. This was the center of Brazil’s coffee trade, which led the historic center of Santos to an era of splendor that is reflected in its architecture to this day. Then the city was transformed and expanded towards the beach region which – in addition to the different crises – led to a decline of the historic center. Currently the center is in the process of revitalization and conservation. Nowadays, many of its historical buildings are recovered. An emblematic example of the prosperity era is the building of the “Trading Exchange”, also known as the “Bolsa de Café” (Coffee Market), which is now a museum. The Audiotour passes through some of the most important historical streets in the center of Santos, such as the street “Rua XV de Novembro” or “Rua do Comercio” which leads to the old train station and the port. We were particularly interested in investigating the different layers of time that are noticeable in this region of the city: a tram crosses through the cobblestone streets alongside modern cars, passing houses built in the colonial period, the nineteenth century and today. In addition, we found ourselves in a path containing many clocks from different eras, almost all of them showing different times, which led us to play with the theme of “the time machine”. The Audiotour also takes the participants to an less “touristy” or revitalized part of the center, passing by one of the oldest coffee shops in the city and entering the atelier of a local plastic artist, Fabrício Lopez, who uses the city as the theme of his works and collects objects found near the port.

FICTIONAL AUDIOTOUR (2005 – 2018)   O Homen do Chapeu (The man with the hat)   (Theatre Festival “XVIII Festival de Inverno”, SESC Santo André / Paranapiacaba, SP (Brazil). 2018)   Ágata takes care of Nenê in a nursing home in São Paulo. The old lady tells her an intriguing story about her old life in Paranapiacaba and Ágata decides to travel to this town to learn more. She goes looking for traces of Nenê, her aunt Emilia and an enigmatic man with a hat. Soon Agata is faced with many unanswered questions: What happened to Aunt Emilia at that time, what made her leave the town? Who is this man with the hat? And why is Nenê so interested in him? What begins as a walk through Nenê’s hometown, is transformed, step by step, into a detective story in which the history of the place and its characters are confused between the haze and the words of Agatha.   CAST: Concept, dramaturgy and direction: Christina Ruf and Ariel Dávila (BiNeural-MonoKultur) Original music and sound design: Guillermo Ceballos Ágata’s Voice: Ana Luiza Leão Investigation: Ariel Dávila, Christina Ruf, Gabriela Gianetti Historical assessment: Eduardo Pin Translation into Portuguese: Alessandro Atanes Poems cited: Parts of “Vila Mágica” and “Moça formosa da estação” by Francisca de Araújo Graphic design of the club’s member card: Natalia Rojo Local production: Gabriela Gianetti General production: Felipe Gonzalez / Difusa Fronte(i)ra Thanks to: Zélia Paralego, Pedro de Souza Maia and Priscila Paralego – ‘Os Memorialistas’, Tatiana Machado, Vilma Rosa, Alexandre and Igor Almeida Oshiro, Maria Aparecida Carillo (Cida), Geyson Ric, Marcia Salvador Tersetti, Leandro Machado, Enrique Portela Silva Co-production: BiNeural-MonoKultur, Difusa Fronte(i)ra Realization: SESC Santo André   RESEARCH: Paranapiacaba has a unique history that is closely linked to the railroad. It is a town that was established by English engineers in the mid-nineteenth century in the coastal mountains of the state of São Paulo. The aim was to develop and build a funicular system to transport merchandise and passengers, connecting the port of Santos with the interior of São Paulo state. We could say that Paranapiacaba has a special character, with its location in the mountains in the middle of the Atlantic Forest, its English architectural style (including a clock that imitates London’s Big Ben) and the dense fog that rises almost daily from the Atlantic Ocean and completely engulfs the entire town. We conducted the historical research under the guidance of Eduardo Pin and became familiar with the idiosyncrasy of this small city and the social organization that was established in the railway era: There was a clear hierarchy according to the workers’ ranks, and the houses and buildings were also distributed according to that criterion. We were struck by the fact that in the history of this town, there is virtually no mention of women. They appeared in photographic records, and perhaps we know who they married (but only those belonging to the more prominent families), but we know almost nothing about these women. At ‘Clube União Lyra Serrano’ we found one of those photos featuring women, and used it as a starting point to imagine what their lives were like. We used some stories about social life from that time and developed the script on that basis. Thanks to its fog, its architecture and in part due to the numerous legends and stories from this place, the town inspired us to write a Fictional Audiotour in the form of a detective mystery (with a feminist touch). This is the origin of our story, which tells of several generations of women and a murder related to the mysterious ‘man with the hat’.