The opera "A Compadecida" was written by José Siqueira from the original text of the theatrical comedy "O Auto da Compadecida", by Ariano Suassuna. Presented for the first and only time in 1961 at the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, its score was restored by a meticulous restoration work carried out by a team of editors. The work is a sacramental comedy that brings up peculiar situations of the culture of Northeast Brazil, in a critical tone, with elements of cordel literature and traces of Brazilian Catholic baroque, mixing popular culture and religious tradition. This play projected Ariano Suassuna nationally and was considered, in 1962, by Sábato Magaldi, "the most popular text of modern Brazilian theater".
In the third act of this opera, when the characters are judged, we inserted two interactive interventions. The first, creating a false fire whose intensity is controlled by the Encourado character, a kind of demon. The second, a starry sky, in which the stars move according to the movement of Compadecida, a character that represents Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Academia de Ópera e Repertório Sinfonieta UFPE
Opera in 3 acts: José Siqueira
Text: Ariano Suasuna
Musical & Scenic Direction and Regency: Wendell Kettle
Visual Art Direction, Scenery and Costume Design: Marcondes Lima
Executive Direction: Jéssica Soares
Lighting Design: Eron Villar
Interactive Poetics - Fire: Ricardo Scholz
Interactive Poetics - Sky: Jarbas Jácome
III Pernambuco Opera Festival, Santa Isabel Theatre, Recife/PE/Brazil, from august, 4th to 7th, 2022.
Software: marine, resolume arena, sensor2osc.