A Missão Em Fragmentos: 12 escenas de descolonização em Legítima Defesa

Colectivo Legitima Defensa

The group Legítima Defesa, created at MITsp 2016, decided to delve into the text A Missão – lembranças de uma revolução (The Mission – Memories of a Revolution) by Heiner Müller, embracing the premise that not betraying the author would mean denying him. Three emissaries of the French Convention—Debuisson, the son of a slave owner; Galloudec, a «nearly white» man; and Sasportas, a Black man—go to Jamaica, an English colony, to organize a slave revolt in the winter of 1798/1799. As they make the first connections, they are reached by the news that Napoleon had seized power on November 9, 1799. Debuisson then interrupts the preparations: believing that he has no support from the new regime, he betrays his companions Sasportas and Galloudec, handing them over to the British crown.

In A Missão em Fragmentos: 12 cenas de descolonização em legítima defesa (The Mission in Fragments: 12 Scenes of Decolonization in Legitimate Defense), 15 Black performers—actors, actresses, musicians, DJs, and a director—are on stage. Different authors are used in the performance to confront, articulate, and reaffirm other perspectives and paradigms. The group proposes the need to alter both the narrator and the narrative, as well as the way of telling it. They advocate for decolonization and the voice of the dead, since the causes that killed them are still alive.

Director: Eugênio Lima

Cast: Eugênio Lima, Walter Bathazar, Gilberto Costa, Luz Ribeiro, Junior Cabral, Mawusi Tulani, Jhonas Araújo, Renato Caetano, Palomaris Mathias, Tatiana Rodrigues Ribeiro, Nádia Bittencourt, Thereza Morena, Fernando Lufer, Luiz Felipe Lucas, and Luan Charles

Production: Maia Gongora

Dramaturgy: Claudia Schapira

Physical Preparation and Choreography: Luaa Gabanini

Vocal Preparation and Spoken Word: Roberta Estrela D’Alva

Musical Direction: Eugênio Lima and Neo Muyanga

Music: Eugênio Lima, Neo Muyanga, Roberta Estrela D’Alva, Luan Charles, and Renato Caetano

Artistic Consultancy: Daniel Lima

Set Design: Arianne Vitale

Photography and Art: Cristina Maranhão

VJ / Audiovisual: Astronauta Mecânico

Animation: Beto Bassi