Brazilian theatre director, writer, and performer Carolina Bianchi, awarded with the Silver Lion at this year’s Venice Biennale, makes her Greek debut with a striking production that premiered at the Avignon Festival in 2023, sending a visceral jolt through the audience and garnering widespread acclaim.
As implied by its title, the work is articulated in two parts. The Bride refers to the story of Pippa Bacca, an Italian performance artist who, in 2008, set out from Milan dressed as a bride, intending to reach Beirut by hitchhiking—a symbolic artistic action that would advocate for peace and the brotherhood among nations. After managing to cross the Balkans, she was eventually raped and murdered in Turkey. Bianchi admits she became obsessed with Pippa Bacca’s story: Where did she master all this strength to do something so daring? And what naivety pushed her to undertake something so perilous? What made her believe that she would be safe?
The second component of the title refers to the chilling term used in Brazil for “date rape drug,” a substance that induces temporary paralysis and amnesia. Within thirty minutes after the drug’s ingestion, the body experiences a loss of muscle control and disorientation; although it is in a position to monitor what is happening, it remains entirely incapable of moving or reacting. In addition, the faculty of memory is impaired, with no access to any recollection of the actual events. What does it mean to be unable to recall the trauma carried within? What is the thin line between sleep and death? And, if you survive, what awaits you next?
Structured as a lecture, the first part of the show sees Bianchi recounting cases of gender-based violence in which women were raped, tortured, and murdered, bringing to light unsettling and disturbing stories—stories unseen and yet omnipresent. This serves as the antechamber to the inferno we are about to enter as Bianchi—thrust into a state of extreme vulnerability between memory and dream—will reach for the darkest corners of a fragmented recollection. With the help of her entrusted team, the Cara de Cavalo collective, she will surrender herself to a relentless descent, where reality and fiction intertwine without a flicker of catharsis in sight.
The production presented at Peiraios 260 marks the first part of Bianchi’s trilogy, Cadela Força, and has been distinguished as “Best Foreign Premiere” for the 2023/24 season in France, selected by the Le Prix du Syndicat de la Critique. In May, she will reveal the second instalment titled The Brotherhood, at Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Belgium)—a work that shifts its focus to masculinity and the male gaze.
A leading figure in Latin America’s experimental art scene, Carolina Bianchi has been based in Europe since 2020. Apart from the Cadela Força Trilogy (2023-2027), she is the creator behind the works O Tremor Magnifico (2020), LOBO (2018), Quiero hacer el amor (2017), Mata-me de Prazer (2015) and the short film Isolda (2021).
The extreme physicality of Bianchi’s work invokes a genealogy of female performance artists—from Gina Pane and Marina Abramovic to Tania Bruguera and Ana Mendieta—while placing herself within that lineage. To quote the Biennale jury’s reasoning for her award, “Bianchi remains at the cutting edge of radical performance, reminding us of the essential need for such uncompromising new artistic voices.”
Conception—Text—Direction: Carolina Bianchi
Translation of texts into English and revision: Larissa Ballarotti, Luisa Dalgalarrondo, Joana Ferraz, Marina Matheus
Dramaturg and partnership in the continuous research process: Carolina Mendonça
Cast: Bruta, Carolina Bianchi, Chico Lima, Fernanda Libman, Joana Ferraz, José Artur, Larissa Ballarotti, Marina Matheus, Rafael Limongelli
Technical direction—Sound design—Original music: Miguel Caldas
Set design—Art and graphic design: Luisa Callegari
Lighting design: Jo Rios
Videos/screenings: Montserra
