Kabul

Kabul, is a delve into an Afghanistan traumatized by 20 years of war and succumbed to the tyrrany of fundamentalists. The play presents four characters in search of dignity and humanity, for decades, confiscated by violence. It's four faces of the war, four portraits of Afghanistan seen from inside houses, behind curtains and under veils.

One particular event served as the starting point for creation of a fictional spectacular: a image captured on a video in november 1999, shows a woman, covered in a blue tchador being publicly executed in a Kabul stadium. This image, captured on a mobile phone video, travelled the whole world, revealing an act as cruel as it was morally and geographically distant.

We decided to dive upon that image, and even going beyond. Who was that woman under the tchador? How was her face? What was her story? Lifting the veil... 

What Amok Teatro tells in Kabul, could well be that woman’s story.

Kabul is the second part of the War Trilogy, an artistic trajectory that includes the plays The Dragon and Family Stories. In this trilogy, the Amok Teatro presents three independent plays, fruits of the same trajectory that reflect the desire to establish a dialogue with the present time, with its violence, and to see, behind the cruelty and the pain, a real humanity.

Kabul received the APTR (Theatrical Producers Association of Rio de Janeiro) in the special category and the Funarte Award Myriam Muniz - 2009.

GALLERY

CAST AND CREATIVE

Direction, text and conception Ana Teixeira and Stephane Brodt
Cast
- Maryam Fabianna de Mello e Souza | Sandra Alencar
- Tariq Stephane Brodt
- Zunaira Kely Brito | Vanessa Dias
- Madji Marcus Pina | Gustavo Damasceno
Music Beto Lemos (creation) | Rudá Brauns
Instruments santur, tombak, saz kumbuz, daf, kemantche
Costumes Stephane Brodt
Scenery Ana Teixeira
Lighting Renato Machado
Graphic Design Paulo Lima
Produção Amok Teatro e Galharufa Produções/Erick Ferraz
Instrumentos santour, tombak, saz kumbuz, daf, kamantchê

TEXTS

WAR TRILOGY

The War Trilogy is a trajectory that began in 2006 in the  ECUM - Encontro Mundial das Artes Cênicas (World Scenic Arts Meeting), an international forum that gathers artists, researchers and scenic arts professionals in reflection about Theatre in Times of War.

What is the role of theatre in the face of suffering and violence? 
How does theatre respond to the challenges and questioning of contemporary society?
How has this society influenced the creation and pursuit of new languages? Artists from different parts of the world shared their works and experiences. Different histories, cultures and works have pointed to a theater that can witness, act in solidarity and rebel against brutality.

These meetings have had repercussions for Amok's trajectory. We began research on the theme of war that resulted in the creation of the plays: O Dragão[The Dragon] (2008), Kabul (2009) and Histórias de Família [Family Stories](2012).

In this trilogy, we present three independent plays, three different portrayals of war, three different scenic language experiences. We have sought to interrogate reality through characters, breaking the media's view from a distance and that of the specialists, stirring up public emotion. It’s a way of reflecting on our times that only theatre can propose. Beyond  the geographical or cultural frontiers, we come across universal questions. In this project, the play, the debate and the encounter with the public are indissociable. 

We wanted to approach the theme of war from the aspect of otherness, an encounter with the "other", that which is different. We do not address the specific questions of our own historical and cultural identity, but we wish to confront the world in search of a human identity, without frontiers. What is in focus is Man in the face of the violence of our time. 

This outlook abroad responds to the challenges and questions raised by globalisation, where migration, minorities, individualism, consumer culture and attempts at hegemony are effective realities.

War Trilogy has a commitment to memory, to the art that persists in not forgetting. With this project we wish to engage in dialogue about our times and act on the perception of what we are and the world in which we live.
Ana Teixeira

CATALOGUE

The book War Trilogy offers images of the shows The Dragon, Kabul and Family Stories through the eyes of six photographers who have witnessed this artistic trajectory of the Amok Theater throughout Brazil.

In this project, shows, debates and meetings with the public were inseparable. For this reason, we invited artists, critics and researchers with whom we share our questions along this path to contribute with articles that will enrich the reflection about the relations between Theater and Reality.

This book reflects the theater we are looking for: a place of meetings, of cultures confluence, of visions, frictions, conviviality and memory.

Photos:
Andrea Teixeira (SP) 
Fernanda Ramos  (RJ) 
Jr. Panela (CE)
Mateo Tiburi(RJ)
Netum Lima  (MG) 
Rafael Saes   (PR)

Texts:                 
Amok Teatro
Barbara Heliodora (Brazil)

O Teatro e o mundo: sobre os teatros ditos documentários 
Beatrice Picon-Vallin  (França)

Um teatro diante de seu tempo 
Jadranka Andjelic    (Sérvia)

A impressão sensível
Jean-François Dussigne   (França)

Os operários da alegria
Maryam Khakipour   (Irã)

Editor: Amok Teatro
Translation: Fátima Saadi
Graphic Design : Paulo Barbosa Lima
Review: Mirna Juliana
Athalaia Gráfica e Editora, Brasília, DF (2012).