Short Story
A Cozy theatre at Barra Funda Street
A short story about Núcleo Experimental’s Theatre
It’s pretty easy, you’ll see. As you get out of the ticket gates at Marechal Deodoro, still inside the subway station, you’d turn left and walk through a long hallway. Go up the stairs. You’d exit at the station’s secondary entry, which is located on the north bank of Praça Marechal Deodoro. Turn right, walk towards the western tip of Elevado Pres. João Goulart (that you might know by the nickname “Minhocão”). Once you reach Conselheiro Brotero Street, turn right. Barra Funda Street is the third on the left. The theatre is near the corner. Easy, right? You just gotta be careful not to miss the theatre — its facade blends in with the rest of the street, it looks more like a small cafe.
Once you enter, you’ll notice that the hall is small. The floor is red and the walls are painted and the walls are painted in a “watery-blue” tone; the lighting is provided by round paper lanterns, hanging from the ceiling. Behind the counter, you’ll meet Andrea, she runs Núcleo’s Café — you must try the cakes she bakes, they are de-li-cious! Sometimes, I think that Núcleo Experimental is the most charming theatre at São Paulo — I’m sorry, Lina Bo Bardi and Zé Celso…
At the box office, you’ll meet Laura, she’s Núcleo’s producer. I’ve been there so many times, to watch so many plays, that she already recognizes me; and greets me with a warm smile as soon as I get there. Before Laura, the producer was Claudia, with whom I’ve had numerous conversations at the bench by the sidewalk.
I often go alone to watch a play. I contemplate the posters of the plays that the company has already staged — they are spread alongside the walls of the hall. “I’ve watched this one. Watched that. I must’ve watched this about seven times now… I haven’t watched that… The plays from this wall were staged before I moved here…”
I also like to get there early, about an hour early. So, often I’m the first one there. I do that because I enjoy watching the audience members arriving — to hear their murmur as they talk, the clinks of cutlery and cups from those who wisely decided to try one of Andréia’s cakes. Who are those people that just got here? What brought them here? What are they talking about?
You’ll notice that the audience at Núcleo’s plays are a very diverse group of people. Mayhaps what connects us all is our love for Theatre. They are the family and friends from the crew and cast members of that night’s show, they are the fans of the company’s work, they are theatre students that came because a teacher recommended the play. And they are also people who simply saw the name of that play in a cultural guide while looking for something different to do that weekend.
At the same time, if you are a frequent visitor, you’ll star to meet the same people among the audience members. Sometimes, I gather courage to talk to the other people at the café and, eventually, I become friends with them — we exchange trivia about the plays we’ve watched there, about our favorite musicals or about what’s on the other theatres in town.
On opening nights, I always meet Jacque and Cris, “the social media girls”, filming the café to post on Núcleo’s Instagram feed. Isa is also there — as it had happened to me once, since she watched Lembro todo dia de você, she became a huge fan of the company. With any look, you’ll also meet Zé Henrique and Fernanda there too. I like to asked them questions about the shows after the performances: how did they come up with a certain scene, what was the process of writing the music for it… I’s amazing how everyone there is always friendly and warm; always available to share their artistic process or, simply, to chat.
Núcleo’s cafe is an excellent place for stagedoor because it’s the only way out of the dressing rooms are through there. So it’s quite common to see, after a show, the cast hugging their friends and family that came to watch them. That contagious joy that one feels after witnessing a beloved one practicing their craft with such passion and skill. Since my friend Mari became Fran’s lighting intern, I walk in the auditorium and wave at her — she waves back from the technical cabin. And after the show, when her work is done, we gossip about what has happened in our lives.
There is something magical about spending the night at the theatre. The kind of magic that one must be there to comprehend it. It’s not easy to explain…, but I’d say that theatres might serve the same role that the churches had during most part of History. Those are places that serve not just to encourage reflections, food for the mind; but also spaces for communion, food for the soul. That’s why I trust Theatre. A night laughing in the theater, a night dreaming, singing, reflecting. Shared emotions that prove to us that we are all interconnected.
Beyond Núcleo’s charming café, the feeling one has by going there is to be part of a community — to know that in someplace at this rock jungle there is a place cultivated lovingly; a place like a cozy theatre at Barra Funda Street.
NOTE: This short story was originally written in Portuguese for “Escrevendo o Real”, a creative-writing workshop taught by Ingrid Fagundez at A Escrevedeira.
You can read the original story in Portuguese here:
