ABSTRACT
I interviewed Rita Aquino and Felipe de Assis via Skype in March of 2018. I had met them in person a few months earlier when I traveled to Salvador de Bahía for the 10th edition of the International Festival of Performing Arts of Bahia (FIAC) in October of 2017. Thanks to Rita Aquino’s invitation, I participated in the seminar she initiated as part of the festival’s educational outreach: Curatorship and Mediation in Performing Arts. At the time, there was rising conservatism in Brazil and growth of right-wing politics, in particular mounting racism against black and indigenous Brazilians, as well as heightened transphobia. The performance of The Gospel According to Jesus: Queen of Heaven, written by Jo Clifford, directed and translated by Natalia Mallo, and starring trans artist and activist Renata Carvalho, for example, was censored and Felipe and Rita had to scramble to find a last minute “underground” space to hold the event. This interview was conducted in Portuñol (a combination of Spanish and Portuguese).
