Fronteiras Theatre Lab

Fronteiras was born from a burning desire to explore multiple cultures, languages and traditions and the points where they intersect in performance.

The word means ‘borders’ in Portuguese, and the inspiration for the company’s name and philosophy comes from the place where I grew up, the rather unique towns of Sant’Ana do Livramento and Rivera, on the border between Brazil and Uruguay.

The distinction between the two towns and countries isn’t visible. There is no bridge, no river, no border control, just an imaginary line separating the two countries. The two towns are merged in one, and even though you might have just crossed the road, the language changes, the currency changes, the architecture and the law change.

Yet, we need special laws and regulations for the place, we trade in three currencies (and good old barter), we are all bilingual and have developed our own local dialect as well. We are both countries and none of them at the same time, we are either country and we are our own.

We want to apply and reflect this peculiar feeling in performance. We want to create theatrical environments that are “no man’s land”, with enough intersections where beautiful things happen. We like calling the work inter/trans/multicultural. Our intercultural interactions entail exposing our culture to others and our experience of other cultures.

The aim is sharing and absorption of knowledge. Our transcultural interactions go one step further. They generate dialogue, translation, experimentation. Our multicultural work is the goal.

It is the result of the interactions above, it is what we will bring to our audiences.