Marília

Best Documentary Script - United Solo Festival 2015

The performance of Marília starts outside of the theater where I greet my audiences and ask them to tie a ribbon around their wrist and make a wish. I use a black ribbon to create awareness about accidents, the leading cause of death among children, including my sister Marília, who died when she was tragically hit by bus in front of the building where we grew up.

For so long I’ve wished to tell the story of my family… but how best to portray a family’s joys and sorrows? Growing up, I developed a close relationship with my dead sister. We talked and played together. I emulated what I thought was her voice, her movements, her mannerisms. Often, Marília and I felt like one person, together compelled to tell our story live on a theater stage. So, we did!

Marília addresses the death of my next eldest sister, Marília; and my father’s molestation of me and my older sisters (though not Marília, as she died too young). I was the youngest of eight (now seven) siblings, a boy who grew up confused about his gender identity and questioning if he was somehow a replacement for his dead sister. The script incorporates many props, projections, and music and sound cues. I use songs and fragments of poetry to advance the plot while providing breaks from the narrative. The script establishes the cultural context of my family traumas, by portraying points along my own journey from poverty in Brazil to a life and career in the U.S., from early loss and gender confusion to family reconciliation and reconstitution.