“It’s a tradition in the family: once a year, we kill a fascist. »
This is the premise of Catarina and the beauty of killing fascists. For this piece, Tiago Rodrigues inspired by a historical event: the murder of a communist resistance fighter in the 1950s in Portugal. He then imagined this militant family who kidnaps and kills a fascist every year… Until the day when one of their daughters refuses to assassinate a fascist in turn. Which will cause a crisis within the clan.
Written in 2020, Catarina and the beauty of killing fascists has been presented on tour in around twenty countries. The play provokes a lot of discussion, according to its author, contacted in Paris two weeks ago, where he is rehearsing a new show with the Comédie-Française, which will be created in Avignon in July. “The debates around Catarina even extend beyond the cultural pages of newspapers and television sets,” he explains.
PHOTO JOSEPH BANDERET, PROVIDED BY FTA
Catarina and the beauty of killing fascistsby Tiago Rodrigues, at the Teatro Piccolo Arsenale in Venice, in June 2023
Can we use violence to defend democracy?
This is the paradox of tolerance. Should we be tolerant towards the intolerant?
Tiago Rodrigues
The latter emphasizes that, despite its deliberately provocative title, the piece does not advocate violence. ” The words beauty And kill, placed one after the other, may seem to glorify violence, but the show doesn’t do that at all. It speaks of the doubt at the heart of democratic values. »
Theater and politics
“The play is not there to defend my position or that of the characters,” he continues. But to formulate a questioning with which theater offers tools that journalism or politics, for example, do not have. The show confronts us, challenges us, no matter where we are on the political spectrum. Above all, I don’t want the audience to leave the theater feeling peaceful. »
We have already written that the theater of Tiago Rodrigues is “gently subversive”… The man of the theater accepts the formula with pleasure. “If it’s true, I’d like to have it written on a t-shirt [rires]. » Does he consider his theater as engaged, political?
PHOTO JOSEPH BANDERET, PROVIDED BY FTA
Catarina and the beauty of killing fascistsby Tiago Rodrigues, during a performance at the Téatro Piccolo Arsenale in Venice, June 29, 2023.
“I think that theater has always had a very strong political dimension. I’m rehearsing a show that’s inspired byHecuba, a play written by Euripides 25 centuries ago in Athens, in a time and in a city that was very political. »
By its very nature as a human assembly, theater can influence political thinking. However, this should not be confused with political action. Theater is fundamentally different and does not operate according to the same rules.
Tiago Rodrigues
Friend and accomplice of the FTA
Is his third visit to the FTA in less than ten years a sign of a rapprochement between Rodrigues and the Montreal festival? “There is a very close dialogue and a very good bond between our two festivals,” says the man who directs the largest theatrical event in the world. It’s one of the festivals that I admire on the international scene. »
Can we expect the director of the Avignon Festival to strengthen his ties with the performing arts community in Quebec in the coming years? “We share a lot of information with the Festival TransAmériques. We will continue to work on joint projects, or even consider co-producing shows…” he concludes. This is good news!
Catarina and the beauty of killing fascists. From May 26 to 28, at the Jean-Duceppe Theater. In Portuguese with French and English surtitles.
On May 27 at 5 p.m., Tiago Rodrigues will participate in a public meeting with theater graduates at the FTA Headquarters.
Visit the FTA website
Who is Tiago Rodrigues?
Born in 1977 in Lisbon, Tiago Rodrigues is a Portuguese actor, author and director recognized throughout Europe.
The man of the theater has directed the Avignon Festival, in France, since 2022. Previously, he was for eight years at the helm of the Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II in Lisbon.
His next show, Hecuba, not Hecubawith the Comédie-Française troupe, will be created this summer at the Avignon Festival, then in Paris and on tour in 2025.