Theatre
Orfeu da Conceição
Not translated into English
Vinícius de Moraes · 1954
Synopsis
On a morro in Rio, Orfeu, musician and poet, son of the washerwoman Clio and the guitarist Apolo, soothes the whole community with his singing. Eurídice loves him and rejects Aristeu, who desires her. Mira, Orfeu's former lover, will not accept being rejected and turns the women of the morro against him. A Black Lady, a figure of death, prowls throughout the play, which takes place during a night of carnival.
Context
The idea was born in 1942, when the poet, acting as guide to the American writer Waldo Frank, discovered the favelas, the terreiros and samba, according to the official site devoted to the author. The play was first staged in 1956 at the Municipal Theatre of Rio, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim, sets by Oscar Niemeyer and actors from Abdias Nascimento's Black Experimental Theatre: for the first time, Black actors stood on that stage. In 1959 Marcel Camus made it into the film Orfeu negro, Palme d'Or at Cannes, which the author disowned.
Who it is for
A short play in three acts, subtitled a Rio tragedy; it has no published translation in either French or English.
Prizes and reception
Praised for having opened the Municipal Theatre to Black actors, and for its author's meeting with Jobim, at the sources of bossa nova.
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