Inspired by true events, Agreste (Drylands) is a lyrical Brazilian drama, originally written in Portuguese by Newton Moreno in 2004. Newly translated to English and directed by Danilo Gambini at Spooky Action Theatre, Agreste (Drylands) considers the impact of intolerance toward trans lives. Despite the fraught subject, this production’s four performers and stellar design team bring gentleness and passion to Moreno’s folkloric tale about queer love and the violent response of some. Told in just under 75 minutes, Spooky Action’s haunting new production has an impact that will be felt when the stage lights dim for the final time.
Making his D.C. directorial debut, Gambini, the current associate artistic director at Studio Theatre and a Brazil native, directs Agreste (Drylands) at Spooky Action with the utmost respect for Moreno’s play, which intends to stage restorative justice in a post-dictatorship Brazil. A project roughly five years in the making for Gambini, this U.S. premiere is a promising testament to the many ways storytelling can define a culture and transcend theatrical borders.
To open, the audience is invited to sit on either side of a gallery space and everyone is offered a cup of cachaca, a Brazilian liquor made from fermented sugarcane juice, by one of the four performers. The chiming of a cathedral bell signals the start of the play and the atmosphere transitions as actors (Raghad Almakhlouf, Irene Hamilton, Kate Kenworthy, and Miss Kitty) take their places on stage. They begins with a simple story of a man and woman who fall in love through a hole in a fence.
The first half of Agreste (Drylands) is a love story. As the lovers grow older and fonder of one another, the fence can no longer keep them apart. Via lighting design, Colin K. Bills concocts a simple but enthralling means to depict the push-pull nature of their courtship. The two run away to build a life together in a hazy whirlwind of a moment and the staging makes this easy to be swept away with. Their adult lives are largely private and innocuous, but they share a palpable commitment to one another. Though they never marry, their partnership is only broken by death. Then the characters are given names: Maria and Etevaldo.
The latter half of the play is a tragedy rooted in blind intolerance. Maria and Etevaldo lived a long and happy life together, but one’s death draws an unexpected wrath from their community leaving the surviving partner to fear violence.
The play is staged well, but not ostentatiously. Giorgos Tsappas’ set consists of two ramped sides with richly textured pools of gravel and mulch. Bills lights the stage with smoky, dusky hues that only exacerbate as the drama progresses. Gambini aptly directs the piece to center the two lovers’ journey throughout this nondescript time and space, presumed to be somewhere in the Brazilian countryside. The point, however, is not that this particular narrative must be confined to a specific time and place, but rather that this ritualistic act of oral storytelling can transcend geographic borders.
Costumed by Danielle Preston in earth-toned tunics without attention to traditional gender roles, the actors take turns playing Maria and Etevaldo, each with their own touch of grace and compassion. The ensemble acts as a harmonious vehicle, although there were a few moments of what appeared to be accidental distractions that disturbed the flow of the already very brief production. Nevertheless, the play works well as an ensemble narrative rather than a more traditional character-driven drama thanks to its deeply communal and community-centered story.
As with many translations, certain liberties must be taken. Gambini’s translation includes two English songs to begin and end the piece—Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy” and Brenda Lee’s “If You Love Me, Really Love Me”—which are sung a cappella by Miss Kitty. These moments are deliriously moving as they bring the idyllic setting of Moreno’s play into a more immediate and recognizable context. Miss Kitty’s performance is both stunning and gut-wrenching to behold.
In Agreste (Drylands), Gambini brings folkloric theater into a new age. As easy as love comes to Maria and Etevaldo, terror resides in their wake. Beautiful in its simplicity, but heartbreaking to behold, this unique play is a powerful example of how to both preserve cultural traditions, while challenging outdated beliefs at the same time.
Newton Moreno’s Agreste (Drylands), translated and directed by Danilo Gambini, runs through Nov. 19 at Spooky Action Theater. spookyaction.org. $20–$37.50.