Azira’i – A memory musical

For her deep medicinal and spiritual knowledge, Azira’i became the first woman in the Cana Brava Indigenous Reservation, in Maranhão, to occupy the category of Supreme Pajé in the Tentehar people. Zahỳ, her youngest daughter, inherited her singing power, a way of communication with the Mairas, Tentehar entities.

The relationship between mother and daughter, however, is impacted by the conflicting context where they’re inserted, marked by a process of acculturation and marginalization. Taken by an overwhelming “disturbance”, the pajé pours her anguish onto the girl — who, years later, will feel the same disquiet trying to dominate her. It’s though the laments sung in communion with the Mairas that these two women reveal an overflowing life force.

Azira’i – Um musical de memórias, written by Zahỳ Tentehar and Duda Rios, alternates between Portuguese and Ze’eng eté, the Tentehar peoples’ native language. The play won the Shell Award for best actress, for Zahỳ Tentehar, and best lighting, and the APTR Award in the Show, Director, Lighting and Young Talent — Actress categories.

“Zahỳ paves the way for others to come, so they will also tell our story. The story of our mothers, our grandmothers, our fathers.” Ailton Krenak

About the authors
Zahỳ Tentehar is the first Indigenous woman to win the Shell Award for Best Actress (for Azira’i). Born in the Colônia village, in the Cana Brava reservation, in Maranhão, she’s a self-taught, multidisciplinary artist, who weaves dialogue between various artistic and cultural languages in different media, such as film, theater, streaming and visual arts, interrogating, through her creations, the behavior of humanity and its sociocultural intervention in contemporary life.

Duda Rios is an actor, director and instrumentalist. Born in Recife, he’s a founding member of Barca dos Corações Partidos, one of the most award-winning theater companies in Brazil. He studied with artists from around the world at the London International School of Performing Arts, where he became a great enthusiast of collaborative creations. Now he attempts to pluralize Brazilian Northeastern narratives and to dismantle stereotypes in many of his works. He has won nine awards as an actor and author throughout his career.

About the collection
The Dramaturgia collection has, since 2012, published writing by Brazilian and international playwrights. The books help in building a memory of current theater, making a new record in the contemporary theater scene. In 2015, Cobogó also launched Dramaturgia Espanhola, the Spanish collection, in 2019, Dramaturgia Francesa, the French collection, and, in 2022, Dramaturgia Holandesa, the Dutch collection. Over 70 important theater authors have been published, with over 100 titles, including various award-winning plays.

Specifications
Title Azira’i – Um musical de memórias
[Azira’i – A memory musical]
Authors Zahỳ Tentehar and Duda Rios
Complementary texts Ailton Krenak and Denise Stutz
Language Portuguese
Page count 80
Publisher Cobogó
ISBN 978-65-5691-150-2
Cover Batman Zavareze
Design project Mari Taboada
Format Softcover
Size 13 x 19 cm
Year 2024
Price R$ 52.00