Nelson Rodrigues in "Anjo Negro": a duality of love

Nelson Rodrigues em "Anjo Negro": uma dualidade do amor

architecture cenography Costume Design design maquete Mockup SketchUP Theatre

Authors: Gabriela Peixoto Violin (mockup and costumes); Isabela Porto Peruzzi (mockup) e Sofia Bernardino (mockup).

Project presented for the subject CAC0676 - (De) Construction of costumes and set design 102; Oriented by Prof. Dr. Fausto Viana, at University of São Paulo (USP).

Our project was selected for the exhibition PQ23: Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space of 2023.

Mockup Concept

In the narrative "Anjo Negro" (Nelson Rodrigues, 1946) Virginia marries Ismael against her will, and as a white woman, refuses to raise a black child like him, killing each one she gives birth. Only once Virgínia has a relationship with Elias, Ismael's white adoptive brother, blinded by him. Virgínia promises to love the conceived son as she desired her paramour, but gives birth to Ana Maria, also blinded by Ismael.

Ana Maria grows up believing Ismael is the only white man among all black others and even Virgínia can't convince her otherwise. Her daughter loves him as a father and lover, being her own mother's rival.

The mockup depicts the second act, scene 8 - Ismael arranges a glass coffin for him and Ana Maria, where no one enters and the white people desire can't reach; Virgínia claims her place, saying that even though she pretended to hate him, she loved him. Ana Maria is locked in the coffin, in an eternal night. The couple makes their way to bed, and a child is on the way.

The mockup focused on Ismael and Virgínia wedding, surrounded by a limited space. Each platform represents a micro environment of the house: the bathtub where Virgínia kills one of her children with Ismael; the garden where Elias is executed by his brother; the couch in Ana Maria's room; and the glass coffin. These movable and suspended platforms are balanced according to the central environment, the bed.

The concept of "rare" revolves around the bed figure, pointing out the duality of love and hate, violence and zeal, black and white, life and death. It is, above all, in the frankness and vulnerability of what is decided. It is the closure and reconstruction of what is around, the moment of consensus that generates the maintenance of the relationship that is destructive on its own. The bed indicates the beginning and the end, where the conception of a child takes place, but also its destination of death. There's the desire for the flesh, but the hate for the color. It is the cause and solution of problems, the scenery of conflict and resolution. The Rarity resides in the inner world that is preserved by the couple's self-destruction, which is reborn in the closed room.