Life and death are often closer than we can bear. In 2008, Cris Moreira gave birth to twins. One of the two children, Francisco, died two days later. His body was laid to rest in that part of the ‘cemetery of longing’ in Belo Horizonte where only children are buried – Block 16. In her poignant lecture-performance Quadra 16, the Brazilian artist uses documentary material and audiovisual techniques to talk about her grief: she addresses the invisibility of pain in a society that treats pregnancy as a public event, but the loss of a child as a private matter. This is the first time that the artist, who has received several awards for her sociopolitical productions, is presenting her work in Austria. Quadra 16 is a deeply personal and at the same time community-building solo performance that asks: Who will listen to a mother speaking about loneliness and death?
Direction, dramaturgy, performance Cris Moreira Light design Marina Arthuzzi, Cristiano Oliveira Araújo Set design, costumes Marina Sandim Audiovisual creation André Veloso Original soundtrack Daniel Nunes Production, subtitling Tiago de Macedo
Cris Moreira – Esparrama!
World premiere March 2025, MITsp – Mostra Internacional de Teatro de São Paulo