The Moitará Group History
Moitará Group Theatre has been proceeding, since 1988, a systematic research on the Actor’s dramaturgy with the language of the theatrical Mask. From its foundation, by Venicio Fonseca and Erika Rettl, up until today Moitará became notable for the diversity within its social cultural projects through workshops, presentations, exhibitions and lecture-performances made all over Brasil. With the acquirement of its own headquarter, in 2004, the Group carried on and heightened the accomplishment of interchanges with artists and researches from Brasil and abroad. This headquarter, established in Lapa, cultural hall of Rio de Janeiro, besides a place for these meetings, has got a library, a massive collection of audios and videos at public disposal.
In 1990, Moitará approached to Centro Maschere e Strutture Gestuali – founded by Donato Sartory and, in 1992 and 1995, took part in the VI and VIII Edizione del Seminario Laboratorio Internazionale Arte della Maschera – Italy. With Roberto Ribeiro, in 1995, they coordinated the coming of Centro Maschere to Brasil with an exhibition of the masks of Amleto and Donato Satori, Italians who are remarkable for their work within the History of European Theatre by handcrafting masks to Dario Fo, Giorgio Strehler, Bertold Brecht, Jean Louis Barrault, Jacques Lecoq, Marcelo Moretti, Ferrucio Soleri, Mario Gonzales, Eduardo de Filippo and others. Besides the exhibition, they organized a seminar about the mask inside several cultures, a workshop about the elaboration of the theatrical masks and an installation on Cinelândia Square (Rio de Janeiro – Brasil).
In the period of two decades of activities, through a systematic practice, the Group has been deepening their ethnological, technical and scenic knowledge of the Mask, aiming to contribute to the ponderation of the work of the actor and the language of the Mask in contemporary Theatre.
In a partnership with Grupo Fora do Sério and Donato Sartori, Moitará produced the script of the documentaries Breve História da Máscara e Método Sartori and Método Sartori e Viagem ao mundo da Máscara in the year of 1997.
In the following year, the event Máscara EMcena took place at Teatro Villa Lobos (Rio de Janeiro – Brasil) which consisted in the presentation of a lecture-performance, exhibition of the masks of Moitará and the premiere of the play Máscara EMcena.
In 1999, in addition to the continuity of the actions of the Group in national and international Festivals, the Group performed Rinfimfim no Medelin, at Teatro Museu da República (Rio de Janeiro – Brasil).
In 2002, together with Alessandra Vannucci, Moitará produced the workshop Quel Buffone di Arlecchino, given by Enrico Bonavera at UniRIO – Universidade do Rio de Janeiro.
In 2003, the Group opened the season of Imagens da Quimera, a play which had the sponsorship of ELETROBRÁS and support of the Ministry of Culture. The play put the Group on the stages of the main theatres in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and was inserted, once again, in the social cultural actions that Moitará does. Imagens da Quimera was seen by more than 30.000 people in the season period throughout the several Brazilian states, collecting more than a ton of food in favor of FOME ZERO and presentations to AÇÃO DA CIDADANIA, aiding about 12 Social Care entities and gave workshops to drama students who came from deprived communities.
Nominated to “PRÊMIO SHELL de Teatro”, in the Music category, the play, that had got a massive reverberation in printed and broadcasted media, was presented in many theatres throughout Brasil and took part in the project “PALCO GIRATÓRIO”, invited by SESC, circulating through nine states, in addition to “Prêmio CARAVANA FUNARTE de Circulação Regional Sudeste e Sul”.
In 2005, the Group proceeded in the promotion of interchanges and took part in “Mostra SESC de Artes Mediterrêneo” with Intervenção Teatral – o jogo das mascaras (Theatrical Intervention – the playing with the masks), performing in many different cities of São Paulo. Through “Laboratório do Ator” (FUNARTE), the Group had given workshops in many states and was awarded, in the same year, with “Prêmio FUNARTE Petrobras de Fomento ao Teatro” to stage the play Quiprocó.
In 2006, the Group participated in the IV FEVERESTIVAL, in Campinas – Brasil and in the project VIAGEM TEATRAL of SESI, with the play Imagens da Quimera and, in October, performed, for the first time, Quiprocó, in its headquarter, presenting, in December, on Praça XV in Rio de Janeiro, in the programming of the festival “Anjos do Picadeiro”.
In 2007, the Group went on excursion with Quiprocó, the lecture-performance A Máscara na Energia do Ator and with the workshop Treinamento do Ator com a Linguagem da Máscara, in II Semana de Teatro do Maranhão, in São Luis, Maranhão – Brasil, XX Inverno Cultural de São João del Rei, Festival de Teatro de Ouro Branco and the 39th Festival de Inverno of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG.
In the second semester of that year, Moitará was awarded with the sponsorship of CAIXA Cultural and went on a period of presentations of Quiprocó, with the workshop Treinamento do Ator com a Linguagem da Máscara Teatral and the lecture-performance through the unities of Brasília, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Curitiba – from October to November. In addition to this, the Group presented in the edition of 2007 of “Festival UNIPAR de Teatro”, in Umuarama, Paraná – Brasil and took part of the project “Ciranda de Espetáculo”, developed by the Municipal Secretary of Education of the Major Hall of Rio de Janeiro.
Still in 2007, Moitará Group Theatre is awarded with “prêmio Myriam Muniz de fomento ao Teatro” and became “Ponto de Cultura” (Culture Point).
The “prêmio Myriam Muniz de fomento ao Teatro” was the opportunity of deepening, continuing and democratizing the researches the Group develops with the Theatrical Mask. The project “Sentidos da Máscara Teatral – uma metodologia para a dramaturgia do ator” foresees the realization of workshops, lecture-performances, seminars, in addition to the creation of a research core with drama professionals and reasearchers. As a result, the Group intends to produce a DVD about their methodology of work with the language of the theatrical mask to be distributed over the main universities and drama school in Brasil and the creation of a performance with 10 public presentations expected to 2008.
The project “Palavras Visíveis: capacitação técnica para atores surdos com a linguagem da máscara teatral”, Culture Point that starts its activities in April of 2008 expects the work with 12 deaf actors who will be qualified in the theatrical practice with the language of the theatrical mask. Hence, not only the technical and artistic knowledge of these students are enlarged but also the formation of multipliers of this process, reaching other 30 thousand members of the deaf and listener communities in general.
With an effective participation within the theatrical scene of Brasil, because of the plays, or even their pedagogical actions, Moitará Group Theatre takes ahead their researches begun in 1988, democratizing their knowledge of the Language of the Theatrical Mask contributing, greatly, with cultural development of the country.