CACTUS -
non-poetic anthology of female character profiles

TEASER: (noun, problem) - a problem for which it is hard to find the answer, especially one that people enjoy trying to solve as a game; (noun, animal) - a male animal that is used to encourage a female animal to be ready to mate in order to make it easier for another, especially chosen, male to actually mate with her (cambridge dict.) 

CACTUS is a performative and theatrical object about stuff that usually precedes it: female character profiles, ideas about female characters, or about female-character-objects. CACTUS hides an archive of voices, an inter-biographical dramaturgy shared with various actresses who contribute to this project. 

CACTUS is an anthological performance built to play with an ontological flaw: seeking, through real and fictional narratives, the extinction of feminine´s representation, intertwining a classical gesture of a profile´s ascription with a poetic glitch.

When lips kiss, openness is not the opposite of closure. Closed lips remain open. Openness permits exchange, ensures movement, prevents saturation in possession 
or consumption. But openness dwells in oblivion . . . because it cannot be represented, nor made into an object, nor reproduced in some position or proposition. 
Who knows that the possibility of exchange is born from two lips remaining half open? (Elemental Passions, Luce Irigaray)

 

With the support of GDA Foundation
Co-produced by: TAGV (Teatro Académico de Gil Vicente) and LIPA (Laboratório de Investigação e Práticas Artísticas)
Grant for creation: Self-Mistake
Support to artistic residency: CAMPUS Paulo Cunha e Silva, Porto.

Photo by Filipe Ferreira

 

 

A cactus is a succulent adapted to dry, desert-like conditions. Not all succulents are cacti; only one quarter of the 10,000 species of succulents belong to the cactus family. Most cacti store moisture in their stems rather than in thick, fleshy leaves like other succulents.

Many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth. 

  • A. A prostituta é uma mulher entre os 25 e os 35 anos de idade. Proveniente de uma família disfuncional, foge de casa na adolescência passando a viver sozinha. Arranja pequenos trabalhos mas abandona-os devido a um forte sentido de independência. Quando se apercebe do poder do seu corpo, começa a utilizá-lo como instrumento de sobrevivência.

Cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. Almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, which are highly modified leaves. As well as defending against herbivores, spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing some shade. In the absence of leaves, enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis.

  • B. Muito bom ar, muito bom acting. Muito expressiva, talentosa e carismática. Cool, despachada, cheia de pinta. Bem disposta e simpática. Atraente, divertida, confiante, independente, bem resolvida mas ao mesmo tempo adorável e “very likeable”. É uma mulher que mesmo sob pressão mantém-se calma, controlada. É uma mulher MUITO bonita (real/humana) mas de uma forma que nos conseguimos identificar com ela, pela leveza e confiança. Cria um laço com a câmera. 

Many cacti have short growing seasons and long dormancies, and are able to react quickly to any rainfall, helped by an extensive but relatively shallow root system that quickly absorbs any water reaching the ground surface. Cactus stems are often ribbed or fluted, which allows them to expand and contract easily for quick water absorption after rain, followed by long drought periods. Like other succulent plants, most cacti employ a special mechanism called "crassulacean acid metabolism" (CAM) as part of photosynthesis. 

 

  • C.  Patrícia viveu em instituições e lares de solidariedade social até atingir a maioridade, mas isso não fez com que se tornasse numa adulta triste ou amargurada. Pelo contrário, Patrícia é uma rapariga bem-disposta e animada, que usou as agruras da vida para se tornar numa pessoa mais forte e com objectivos bem definidos. Patrícia tenta vestir- se de forma sóbria, muito elegante, mas ao mesmo tempo feminina. Não se coíbe de aconselhar os outros através das suas lições de vida e frases inspiradoras.

Transpiration, during which carbon dioxide enters the plant and water escapes, does not take place during the day at the same time as photosynthesis, but instead occurs at night. The plant stores the carbon dioxide it takes in as malic acid, retaining it until daylight returns, and only then using it in photosynthesis. Because transpiration takes place during the cooler, more humid night hours, water loss is significantly reduced.

A few species differ significantly in appearance from most of the family.

  • D.  Rita estuda direito numa Universidade privada e Joana faz todos os esforços para que filha possa focar-se nos estudos e não se preocupe com os problemas financeiros por que passam. Mesmo assim, a filha não lhe reconhece esse esforço e a relação com a mãe é tensa. Joana cuida de Ricardo. Quando Rita descobre que Ricardo tem um testamento, deixando para a mãe a maior parte da fortuna, planeia a morte de Ricardo, acabando mesmo por concretizá-la. Na universidade Rita conhece Maria e começa a cobiçar tudo o que ela tem, nomeadamente o namorado.

Cacti have a variety of uses: many species are used as ornamental plants, others are grown for fodder or forage, and others for food (particularly their fruit).


#ficção#perfil#drynvironments#adaptations#expandandcontract#personagem#desaparecer#reenactment#succulent

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