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Chechnya: a case study
RONALDO SERRUYA
21/03 > 20H
22/03 > 11H
GALPÃO ARQUIMEDES RIBEIRO || FUNARTE SP
Alameda Nothmann, 1058 - Campos Elíseos
50min
Free
PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS:
Sun Faganello
Paloma Dantas
[Flavio Rodrigo]
Matilde Menezes
Carlos Jordan
Paulo Arcuri
Andreia Marques
Audio Transcribed
Hello, my name is Ronaldo Serruya. I'm here to talk about Chechnya: A Case Study, my newcreative process, which is a continuation of research I've been conducting for several years onthe concept of the lecture-play. This research has already led to my first solo work, The Other’sIllness, which explores my relationship with HIV.Now, in Chechnya, I address institutional homophobia—the kind sanctioned and permittedwithin institutions such as the state, the church, and the family. This project is rooted in ajournalistic reality: the existence of prison camps for homosexuals in the 21st century, in theChechen Republic. From this, I draw a connection between Brazil and Chechnya, guided by acentral question: How many Chechnyas exist within Brazil?I construct a fictional narrative, first imagining the life of a Chechen prisoner inside one of thesecamps—what their existence might be like, how the camp operates. As this fiction unfolds forthe audience, it is gradually interwoven with autobiographical elements—with my ownexperiences as a queer kid and with the experiences of queer children worldwide.
This project also continues an exploration from The Other’s Illness: the presence of audiovisualelements in the performance. But now, we take this further—there is an actual audiovisualdirection integrated into the scene with me. Sol Faganello manipulates live images and createsvideos in real-time, blending these elements into the performance.And that’s it.
Bio:
Ronaldo Serruya is an actor and playwright with Grupo XIX de Teatro (SP), one of the mostimportant theater groups in Brazil, performing in productions such asHygiene, Arrufos, Marchapara Zenturo, among others.In 2009, he founded Teatro Kunyn, a collective recognized for addressing LGBTQIA+ issues in theperforming arts, where he both performed and wrote the scripts for the following plays:Dizer enão pedir segredo, Orgia ou de como os corpos podem substituir as ideias(nominated for theAPCA Award for Best Play), andDesmesura(Suzy CapóAward for Most Transgressive Work atthe 25th MIX Diversity Festival).As a playwright, he was nominated for Best Author at the São Paulo Children's and Youth TheaterAward (2018) for the playHoje o escuro vai atrasar para que possamos conversarand at the33rd Shell Theater Award forA Doença do Outro.He is the creator of the Grupo XIX de Teatro Research Center, where he conceived and directedthe playsPlantar cavalos para colher sementesandInterruptor: dispositivos para desligar acorrente.In 2020,he launched the workshop Linguagens da Travessia: um olhar sobre as dramaturgiasdissidentes.Since 2016, he has been researching the relationship between art and HIV/AIDS, creating theprojectComo eliminar monstros: discursos artísticos sobre HIV/AIDS,which has receivedinstitutional support from Itaú Cultural and the Goethe-Institut.In cinema, he has acted in films such asEscola de Meninos,Na Sua Companhia(Best Actor atCine Vitória 2016),Corpo Elétrico(APCA Award for Best Feature Film 2017, directed by MarceloCaetano), andJust Past Noon on a Tuesday(Best Short Film at the Sicilia Queer Film Festival,Italy, directed by Travis Mathews).His playA Doença do Outrowon the 7th CCSP Small-Format Playwriting Award (SP).He is currently finalizing his next work,Chechênia: um estudo de caso, about institutionalhomophobia, set to premiere in 2025.