“It feels like I’m playing a game with the audience.”

“Being in a state of grace.” Dennis Fraga, who is currently producing two plays in Rio, describes himself as follows: The actress will arrive this Thursday at the Teatro Riachuelo with the very short season of her monologue “Eu de Você”, which premiered in 2019 and sold out sessions throughout Brazil. In parallel, she will co-star with Tony Ramos in “What we Only Know Together,” which will be shown at the same theater. Both are directed by Luis Villaza.

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In his solo work, Dennis weaves songs, poems, and prose with real-life stories sent to him in letters by strangers. Accompanied by a female band, she sings over a dozen songs, using everyday humor to create a patchwork of empathy and loneliness.

— This show is the most beautiful experience of my life. In my theatrical way, it started something new in me – says the actress. –It feels like you’re playing a game with the audience. This is a piece of writing that I want to update myself and redo as often as my body allows.

Dennis Fraga in “I of You” — Photo: Disclosure

Tony, who had been away from the stage for 20 years, saw this monologue and liked it so much that he invited the actress to appear in his new play, which had premiered exactly a year earlier.

— Both pieces were created from scratch in the rehearsal room. In “I of You,” I go to the audience, talk to them, and put them in the story. evokes empathy. In Tony’s case, we go a step further and practice this empathy in front of people – he explains.

On stage, they play actors who share their experiences and life details in interaction with the public. With critical humor and levity, they guide the listening experience.

— The work is not a continuation, but is discovered in interaction with the public. “We’re a little obsessed with it,” he said with a laugh. The lack of empathy is painful, but this play is a relief. I keep my utopia as a guiding star. I know I won’t get there, but they keep me going.