King Kong Fran

In the monologue King Kong Fran, the figure of the traditional circus attraction Gorilla Girl is used to talk about sexuality and gender distinctions as a social construct. Subverting the patriarchal logic, the character of Fran, embodied by Rafael Azevedo, invites the audience to see the underside of stereotypes commonly understood as feminine, comically and ironically inverting the sexist rationale. Creating scenes that reflect on the roles destined to women in circus life and arts, King Kong Fran’s playacting shows the routine embarrassments and constraints suffered by women, reaffirming the objectification, violence, harassment, silencing and aesthetic pressures that are broadly naturalized in our everyday lives.

In addition to the unabridged play, the book features writing by Viviane Mosé, Letrux, Rafaela Azevedo and Pedro Brício about the play and the themes of King Kong Fran, as well as back cover copy by Maria Ribeiro.

Since its debut in November 2022, this monologue has already led thousands of people to the theater and been indicated to the 2023 Comedy Awards in the categories of Show, Direction and Performance.

About the authors
Rafaela Azevedo is an actress, clown, director and researcher. She’s the creator of King Kong Fran — where she’s the sole performer, codiretor and co-writer —, a theater hit with both critics and audiences and indicated to the 2023 Comedy Awards in the categories of Best Performance, Best Show and Best Director. Rafaela is also a member of the comedy channel Porta dos Fundos. On Instagram, under @fran.wt1, she has been gaining followers as an anarchist character that inverts the sexist relations and surprises and entertains the audience with her objectification of men. She was the director and writer for the shows Não aprendi dizer adeus, with Bárbara Salomé, considered one of the 25 best plays of 2022 by Folha de S.Paulo, and Ira do afeto, in 2023, with actress Débora Veneziani. She's the creator and director of the Laboratório Estado de Palhaça e Palhaço, a school to share clownery techniques.

Pedro Brício holds an undergraduate degree in Film from Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) and a master's degree in Theater from Unirio. He studied at Desmond Jones School of Mime (London), Scuola Internazionale dell’attore Comico (Italy) and École Philippe Gaulier (London). He wrote and directed the plays King Kong Fran (in partnership with Rafaela Azevedo), Sonhos de uma noite com o Galpão, O condomínio, Me salve, musical!, Trabalhos de amores quase perdidos, Cine-Teatro Limite, A incrível confeitaria do Sr. Pellica. He’s also the author of Nastácia, Breu, Comédia Russa, O menino que vendia palavras, plays that were directed, respectively, by Miwa Yanagisawa, João Fonseca and Cristina Moura. He was nominated and awarded by some of the main prizes in the country for his work, such as Shell, APTR, Questão de Crítica, Contigo, APCA, Prêmio do Humor. He wrote and directed the musicals Show em Simonal and Icaro and the black stars. His writing has been translated into English, Spanish and German. He has participated in the Frankfurt International Book Fair, the Guadalajara Contemporary Playwriting Week, and Una Mirada al Mundo, at the Madrid Centro Dramático Nacional. As a director, he has put on plays by Samuel Beckett, Edward Albee, Rafael Spregelburd, Patrícia Melo and Hilda Hilst. He's from Rio de Janeiro and has a son, Benjamin.

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 King Kong Fran
Collection Coleção Dramaturgia
Authors Rafaela Azevedo and Pedro Brício
Language Portuguese
Page count 72
Publisher Cobogó
ISBN 978-65-5691-127-4
Cover and illustrations Juliana Montenegro
Format Softcover
Size 13 x 19 cm
Year 2023