I’m Not Leaving Here Today

In I’m Not Leaving Here Today, the life of a group of Brazilian and Angolan residents of the biggest low-income neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro, Maré, is told in episodes, celebrating song and dance. The show, built and performed outside at the Maré Ecological Park, is a collective creation by Cia Marginal and Jô Bilac, cantering issues such as the erasure of Black people’s memories, homophobia, patriarchal violence, racism, as well as the multiple possibilities for affectionate and political resistance born from living alongside difference.

“Here, we were in the weeds. There was no light, there was no one. I like it here… Because here I’m lucky. They tried so hard to take me, remove me, kill me. But there’s no use insisting, invading, deluding, because I’M NOT LEAVING HERE TODAY!”

About the author
Jô Bilac was born in 1985 in Rio de Janeiro. In 2006, he graduated from the Martins Pena Theater School. He’s the award-winning author of various plays and one of the creators of the TV series Segunda chamada (2019 APCA Best Show winner), adapted from his play Conselho de classe, published by Cobogó. He’s the author of Infância, tiros e plumas, Os mamutes and Insetos, the latter two awarded at Cesgranrio, Festival Internacional de Teatro, Shell, APTR e Aplauso Brasil 2019, all of them published by Cobogó as part of its Dramaturgy Collection. He also wrote Savana glacial (Shell Award), Fluxorama (nominated for APCA), Beije minha lápide (nominated for Shell, APTR and Cesgranrio), Pi – Panorâmica insana (APCA Award) and Venus Flytrap (Performing Arts London Award), all of them performed in cities Brazil and abroad, such as Bogota, London, New York, Paris, Bologna, Lisbon and Stockholm. His writing was published in various European and Latin American countries. His play Fluxorama was published in the United States by the Yale University Press. Bilac also worked as a curator for Rio de Janeiro playhouses, and is currently a part of the Cia Teatro Independente. He was highlighted by O Globo newspaper as a theater personality in 2011 and 2013.

About the company
Cia Marginal is a company continuously conducting theatre research and practice since 2005. Based in Maré, it’s now a reference in the contemporary Rio de Janeiro scene, with five shows in its repertoire: Qual e a nossa cara? * (2007), *Ô, Lili (2011), In_Trânsito (2013) and Eles não usam tênis naique (2015). Created based on the experiences of specific contexts (favelas, prisons, train stations), the company’s plays question the relationship between the center and the margins, deconstructing hegemonic narratives by inscribing peripheral voices and bodies onstage. Eles não usam tênis naique, nominated for the 2015 Questão de Crítica Award in the categories of Cast and Direction, toured over 40 towns in 15 Brazilian states, and was also shown in Portugal. In 2014, Cia Marginal was recognised by the Rio de Janeiro Town Hall for “representing the engagement of theater in our times”, and in 2019 it was honoured at ALERJ with the Carolina Maria de Jesus Human Rights Award.

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.

Specifications
Collection Dramaturgy Collection
Author Jô Bilac
Company Cia Marginal
Language Portuguese
Page count 64
ISBN 9788555911064
Cover Felipe Nunes
Size 13 x 19 cm
Format Softcover
Year 2020