Refugee and migrant actors tell their own stories in Brazil in new stage production

A new theatrical production in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is turning the pain of forced migration into art, placing refugees and migrants at the centre of the creative process as performers and co-authors of their own stories.

"Travessia" — Portuguese for "crossing" — draws on the image of a drifting raft to explore themes of displacement, exclusion and belonging.

Inspired by the 1816 shipwreck of the French frigate Medusa, the work connects a historical disaster to contemporary experiences of forced migration through a multiethnic cast that includes Brazilian, migrant and refugee artists from Venezuela to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Director Gabriela Mellao built the piece through a collaborative process shaped by the performers' own languages, memories and worldviews.

"I felt I had a kind of mission: to give voice to each of them," she said.

Among the cast is Congolese actress Prudence Kalambay, who drew on her own harrowing journey to bring truth to the stage.

"I am here representing these voiceless voices of women, these people who did not have the opportunity to be here with us," she said, talking about the sexual violences children and women face during theirs crossings.

Fellow Congolese actor Shambuyi Wetu said the production offered a creative freedom he had never experienced at home. "In Congo, we don't have much freedom of artistic expression. The artist is not free to do their work," he said.

Venezuelan actor Victor Gee Rosales said the experience had given him a sense of solidarity. "When you emigrate, you feel alone, but it's not really like that, because there are too many people going through the same situation as you," he said.

The production opened on April 1 and is scheduled to run through May 3.

Production: Jorge Silva, Sergio Queiroz, Liamar Ramos/Reuters