Augusto dos Anjos is one more Brazilian poet who draws attention to the people of theatre. "Eu, Augusto dos Anjos" is the play that brings to the stage the poet who was born in the state of Paraiba in 1884 and the actor Luiz Henrique Nogueira after six years working only in Cinema and TV.
Considered in the history of literature as the first modern Brazilian poet, in spite of his early death at 30 with only one book published in 1900: "Eu" which, in English, means "I".

The poet of melancholy, of what is deep and hidden in the human soul, with his inventive poetry between symbolism and pre-modernism, is really popular today. It is hard to meet a young Brazilian student or any well educated person who does not recognize those initial verses from the sonnet "Versos Intimos" ("Intimate Verses"):

No one attended, as you've seen, your last
Chimera's awe-inspiring funeral.
Ingratitude — that panther — has been all
Your company, but it has been steadfast!

Get used to mud: soon it will hold you fast!
Man living among wild beasts on this foul
And sordid earth cannot resist the call
To turn himself as well into a beast.

Here, take a match. Now light your cigarette!
A kiss is but the eve of being spat,
A stroking hand, my friend, may stone you too.

If your great wound still saddens anyone,
Cast at that vile hand stroking you a stone,
Spit straight into the mouth that kisses you!
(Nelson Archer translation) 

Through  letters, poetry and also literary reviews that had never acknowledged his work, the play "Eu, Augusto dos Anjos" brings the life history of the poet, his Northeast cultural roots, his emigration to the South, his relationship to women. 

Luiz Henrique Nogueira plays Augusto dos Anjos. Nogueira is a well known and respected actor in Brazil, recognized in theatre and in cinema for his work as an actor and as a cast trainer. Recently Nogueira became very popular for playing some comic roles in Brazilian soap operas.

Now Nogueira is tasting another side of his actor's work: to play a poet  that has turned  tragedy and heaviness into timeless words.

The play was performed at Casa da Gavea, Rio de Janeiro, during October and November 2006. The cast also included Leandro Crespo, Renato Reston, Fabiana Duarte, Marta Metzler, Rubens De Araújo and Vera Fajardo. The direction and the playwrighting were by Joaquim Vicente.

Nogueira, who shows a balanced tone performing Augusto dos Anjos, told us about his experience in performing the poet on stage.

How did you get involved in this work?
This is a project of the playwright and director of the play, Joaquim Vicente, who was a assistant director of a Chekov play that I performed in 1996.  In 2005 we started dramatic readings of "Eu, Augusto dos Anjos" at Casa da Gavea Theatre, and in 2006 we got the Funarte  sponsorship Miriam Muniz. At that time I was finishing a work on a TV soap opera, so everything  fit well.
And how did you discover Augusto dos Anjos? 
I did not know anything about him—it was a revelation. An actor always learns when performing; it is common to research deeply about the play's issues and theme. For this work I read everything about him and by him and I really fell in love with him. Augusto is ecological, nihilistic, modern, I mean, much more than simply morbid as is usually said about him.
You have a successful career on TV, primarily comic roles.  So how did you proceed on the path to Augusto dos Anjos?
I never performed comic parts in theatre, only on TV. And actually I was surprised. In theatre I am most interested in tragedy and some lyric plays. Maybe the kind of comedy that is common in theatre today does not attract me much, as an actor and as a viewer also. So to start a work which is more intense,  I feel as if I am coming back home again.
I really see this multiplicity of different genres in your career: from theatre to TV, from actor's training to the classical repertoire. Is that a conscious choice?
The career of an actor in Brazil is indeed complicated, as it is almost all over the world. I dedicated myself only to theatre for 12 years. That was actually a counscious choice. But  there is a moment you have no choice at all. So trying a career on TV is inevitable. I have had good luck with my work and roles on TV. Santa Clara has blessed me! In theatre I really choose my projects carefully. I am not just an actor for theatre only, I am an actor ready projects. I consider the playwright, the director, the proposal. I always try to grow in my career. But, as Clarice Lispector says: "To be born is such a long way!"
Which poem, quotation, by Augusto dos Anjos has touched you most?
I don't speak this quotation on stage but here it is: 
"Meu coração tem catedrais imensas". In my opinion this is the most beautiful verse in the Portuguese Language. As Augusto dos Anjos I speak words about Brazil  that I like very much He says: "In Brazil we are a sinister club of members thwarted, a sick society made of paralytics, with cold fingers swinging forever, with a committed vitality. Oh, what an uninterested love for that miserable homeland whose happiness we give ourselves pleasantly in sacrifices. Today there are no more prophets!". And that was written in 1910.
How would you describe the pain in his poetry?
The pain of living... the pain to know that we were born, suffer and die... nothing more than that. But he chose to say it that way. He was a poet. He chose roads and languages that better expressed his feelings and fears.
What does Augusto dos Anjos, the poet you perceive and the character you built on stage, teach you, the actor, man and artist Luiz Henrique?
So far I haven't quite seen all the benefit from diving into this work. But I turned 40 recently, and to be by Augusto dos Anjos' side at this moment of my life really shows me a lot. To deal with the death theme, not only because that was one of the poet's favorite themes, but because he speaks of Time, when he dies at 29, that is hard for me sometimes. I mean, for myself, Luiz. The scene of death touches me a lot. It touches me with the fact that a person can live through all of that and die so young. Augusto's wife in the play says: "And doubly he died because a young man died... ". That is tragic to me.
What lies in the future?
More theatre!  When I start working in theatre I want more and more. It has been six years since I last stepped on a stage. I was working with cast training in cinema and acting on TV and I was happy, but theatre means more happiness to me.
Is there any writer you would like to perform?
Yes.  I would like to work on a project on my own—the book of letters by Caio Fernando Abreu is a wonderful record of the 80's. I would like to play Caio in a play based on those letters. 

Images-Dalton Valerio