Based on Nelson Baskerville's life (the director), the Luis Antonio – Gabriela spectacle reveals the story with cropped impressions, of a middle-aged transvestite that, lately, became a known figure overseas by the name of Gabriela.

Gathering a biographic inventory that consisted of: photographs, diaries, letters, family members and friend’s interviews and personal belongings. The Cia. Mungunzá takes to the stage a strong story that has as scenery a violent family environment, as a consequence of a military dictatorship, seen from different perspectives. The younger brother is sexually abused by Luis Antonio. The older sister who goes around the world looking for Gabriela’s body. A father that did not recognise the transvestite daughter. The stepmother who raised him with 8 other children. The colleagues that had mixed feelings about the protagonist: estrangement and admiration. And himself, an eight-year-old boy that finds out about homosexuality and since then, goes non-stop in search of his own identity, through which he discovered life itself.

The spectacle made a total of 8 seasons, travelled through 32 cities in Brazil, received 5 awards in the year of its debut and was attended by approximately 40 thousand people.

394 presentations 

Sesc Santo André - Centrifugal Scenes - Santo André 2019. Presentations Repertoire 10 years of the theatre Company, at the Mungunzá Container Theatre - São Paulo - 2018.

Seven seasons in São Paulo – Centro Cultural São Paulo; Galpão do Folias; FUNARTE; João Caetano theatre; Alfredo de Mesquita theatre; SESC Belenzinho; Teatro de Contêiner Mungunzá. One season in Rio de Janeiro – SESC Copacabana. Integrated the programming of many festivals around Brazil and “Festival São Palco” Coimbra – Portugal.

It received multiple grants (state funding of the arts such as): PROAC LGBT 2011; Proac Circulation 2012; Myriam Muniz 2012; Circuito Cultural Paulista; Palco Giratório, SESC 2013. 

Received the Shell 2011 (Best Direction) and APCA 2011 (Best Show) awards; Cooperativa Paulista de Teatro Award (Best Direction and Visual Project); Governor of the State of São Paulo Award (Best show by the Popular Jury) and APLGBT Citizenship Award in Respect for Diversity (Performing Arts), among others. It was elected as one of the best shows of the year by media outlets such as Veja, Estado de S.Paulo and Folha de São Paulo.

Concept and Direction - Nelson Baskerville     Dramaturgy - Nelson Baskerville e Cia. Mungunzá de Teatro     Dramaturgical Intervention/Script - Verônica Gentilin     Cast - Day Porto, Fabia Mirassos, Lilian de Lima, Lucas Bêda, Marcos Felipe, Sandra Modesto, Verônica Gentilin e Virginia Iglesias.      Technician/Performer – Pedro das Oliveiras     First Assistant – Ondina Castilho.      Second Assistant – Camila Murano.     Musical Direction, Composition and Arrangement – Gustavo Sarzi.     Vocal Coach – Renato Spinosa.     Sound Track – Nelson Baskerville.     Preparation of Actors – Ondina Castilho.     Lighting Designer – Marcos Felipe e Nelson Baskerville.      Set Design – Marcos Felipe e Nelson Baskerville.      Costume Designer – Camila Murano.      Hair and Makeup Design – Rapha Henry e Fabia Mirassos     Video Maker – Patrícia Alegre.      Executive Production – Sandra Modesto e Marcos Felipe.     Production – Cia. Mungunzá de Teatro.      Press Office – Nossa Senhora da Pauta.      88 min.     * Recommended for ages 16+

 

"...One of the best productions in Brazilian theatre: Luis Antonio-Gabriela. I think it's painful, but beautiful, beautiful in its ugliness. The ugly is beautiful there, it takes on the form of art. It was a revelation for me. This is Brazilian art. It has a very good “Brazilian-ness” and the aesthetic of ugliness. I advise people to watch it."

Antunes Filho, Carta Capital Magazine

 

"... To watch 'Luis Antonio – Gabriela' was more than an aesthetic pleasure, it was one of those experiences that changes you; I left the theatre with a knowledge imprinted on me that will surely interfere forever in my view on the subject."

Beth Néspoli

 

"A play that should be seen by everyone who still believes that things can be different"

Guilherme Conte / Estadão Newspaper

 

"...In my opinion, it is perhaps the best national work that followed Plínio Marcos and Nelson Rodrigues"

Maria Lucia Candeias

 

"...The words create beautiful images, it catches the most sensitive people from all angles, this play puts its finger on our dehumanisation"

Alexandre Mate

 

 

"The conclusion moves and disturbs the spectator in a surprising set. Without judgement of values, pity or sorrow, the play unmasks a reality that only proximity makes possible"

XXXXXX não sei quem escreveu esse.

 

“The decade barely passed its half, but it can already be said without fear that “Luis Antonio – Gabriela” is one of the best shows produced in São Paulo in the 2010s”

Dirceu Alves Junior - Veja São Paulo

 

"The great merit of the boys from Mugunzá is to do in a way that does not become a melodrama loaded with paints, but it sounds like nothing more than an artistic portrait of life, cruel and beautiful"

Miguel Arcanjo Prado - Portal R7

 

“It's no wonder that at the end, the audience applauds standing up and with pleasure. We are all on the scene, with our youth and adult concerns, our dreams, our apologies, our declarations of love, our generous look towards what is different in ourselves"

Celso Cury - Revista Brasileiros

 

"Without judgment or shame, the show Luis Antônio-Gabriela, by Grupo Mungunzá, avoids sentimentality and stereotypes when narrating the story of a stigmatised homosexual... After the final catharsis, the spectator can’t wait to go back in search of new angles of apprehension of a complex spectacle, which makes no concessions in search of a conclusion."

Valmir Santos

 

“A farewell ceremony in a nervous show in the representation of the cohesive cast and with visual solutions (setting, costumes and lighting) that establish a vibe between the brothel and the hospital. What you watch are panels of half-truths, search for lost time, melodrama and almost biblical scenes of redemption. With talent and sincerity, Nelson Baskerville manages, in his own way, to reconcile Abel with Cain”.

Jefferson del Rios / Estadão Newspaper