This month's column has an intimate taste of  personal events. I mean,  I'd  rather talk about life's stage, what happens day by day in life. The day was January 24th.  I had some books to give, but to whom? I phoned  some libraries and no one could take them. I wouldn't accept the idea of throwing them away. So, I sent  emails  to some friends and to a theatre forum on the Internet. Impressive!  A lot of fathers and mothers for some homeless books appeared. They phoned me, they sent several emails... Yes, I want them... Where are they? I can  take them from wherever they are... No, don't throw it away... For a time, I thought I was not giving books but pets, real pets of the soul. 

On the same day – the premiere of  Um vôo para Santos Dumont ("A flight to Santos Dumont").  Alberto Santos Dumont is the proven inventor of the airplane. And now his history as the airplane-inventor (and man's dream to fly) is being staged in Rio de Janeiro by the Companhia Preto no Branco (CPB), for children and young people.  Maybe I'm suspect if I say anything because I am part of the production staff, but not the creation side. So I feel comfortable to say that this is a delicate masterpiece of Andre Brilhante's talent with sincerity, yes, sincerity. Brilhante is an actor, director, playwright and producer of the CPB. But nothing happens alone, there is the wonderful music of a great Brazilian composer for  theatre, Warley Gourlart, who plays the role of  Dumont also;  the colorful and creative costumes of  Andre de Angelis, the scene design of  Marcia Viveiros, the lighting design of  Romiro Vasquez; the certain and essential  touch of Perla Di Maio in scene direction. And giving life to the roles, Milena Contrucci Jamel, Andre Brilhante and Warley Goulart.  Also the Museu Aeroespacial da Aeronautica (The Aeronautics Museum) that has produced  an exhibition about Santos Dumont  with photos and  films in the theatre's foyer. This work experience has taught me how theatre can be simple, a play, a child's play  that makes emotion come out of simple things, a  gesture, a color, a song, a word. I wish I were a child again to see this play with innocent eyes, and make it part of my first impressions of the world.

Warley, Milena and André: The crazy and persistant aviator

Santos Dumont, for every Brazilian, is the Father of Aviation. He is considered to be the first to build and fly an aircraft heavier than the air by its own means of propulsion. A genius, a Brazilian hero, a very interesting character for a movie or a play.  This play  gives him a honorable homage in a country that  easily forgets  its own history. There's a delicious book about  him: "Wings of madness"  by an American author, Paul Hoffman.

At the end of the day, I gave Brilhante a big black&white photo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing. It seems the last scene of the play, the smiles, the way they look at each other, the feet flying... We're in heaven... and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak...

The play:  Um vôo para Santos Dumont  - Saturdays and Sundays, January 24th to February 15th, 5 PM, Casa da Ciencia  da UFRJ, Rua Lauro Muller, 03,  Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.  Phone: 2542-7494  www.casadaciencia.ufrj.br

The Museum: Museu Aeroespacial da Aeronautica -  Avenida Marechal Fontenelle, 2000, Sulacap, Campo dos Afonsos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Phones  3357-5814/ 5212  web site: www.musal.era.mil.br  / email :  musal@maerj.gov.br

The book: Paul Hoffman. Wings of madness: Alberto Santos-Dumont and the invention of flight. Hyperion books, New York: 2003.  

© 2004 AVIAR-DKA Ltd. All rights reserved (including authors' and individual copyrights as indicated). All copyrights, trademarks and servicemarks are protected by the laws of the United States and International laws. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
For permissions, contact publishr@scene4.com

All articles are archived on this site.
To access the Archives