Das Dores

In a desperate attempt to put a stop to the extermination policy against marginalized kids, Maria das Dores shields the body of her son, murdered by the police, and threatens to kill herself live on national television. The play develops under the eyes and interference of an Author and Neuza, a mother who has actually lost her son and watches her tragedy play out on stage.

Playwright Marcos Bassini interweaves both narratives in a combination of prose, verse and song, not only criticizing the police, the authorities and the extermination policy against marginalized kids, but also questioning the participation of all of society in this tragedy.

Joining Editora Cobogó’s Dramaturgy Collection, Das Dores is one of 14 plays created by authors in the Núcleo de Dramaturgia Firjan SESI’s [Firjan SESI Playwriting Center] fifth class (2019), under the guidance of playwright and director Diogo Liberian.

AUTHOR: You know what we’re watching today, right, ma’am?
MARIA DAS DORES: A play featuring my story.
AUTHOR: Right. A musical. Or an almost musical. There’s also poetry.
Like The Death and Life of a Severino, have you heard of it?
MARIA DAS DORES: Yes.
AUTHOR: It’s a Christmas pageant written by a poet, João Cabral de Melo Neto.
MARIA DAS DORES: I know.
AUTHOR: With music by Chico Buarque.
MARIA DAS DORES: I’ve seen it.
AUTHOR: But while that play was about the Severinos suffering with the Northeastern drought, mine is about Marias suffering with the violence invading their communities. Shall we begin?

About the author
Marcos Bassini is the author of poetry book Senhorita K [Miss K], creator of spoken word poetry slam Haicai Combat, and scriptwriter of the audioseries Sulamita Coach. He’s also an audio producer and has composed songs recorded by Baia and Mané Sagaz, a band where he was the lead singer. He has also worked as a copywriter in advertising agencies such as Artplan, DPZ and McCann.

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, and, in 2019, Dramaturgia Francesa, the French collection, and Dramaturgia para Crianças, for children. Over 50 authors have been published, with 80 titles.

Specifications
Title Das Dores
Author Marcos Bassini
Collection Dramaturgia [Dramaturgy]
Language Portuguese
Page count 152
Cover Guilherme Ginane
Format Softcover
Size 13 x 19 cm
Year 2021