In a secret place, there exists Wendy. Restless and with no grand objective, she dances in fear. The colour red haunts her, obfuscating her reality in a sad shade of pink. A macabre perception of femininity composed by the troubled imagination of its director, who has moulded his transgender experience into a semi-autobiographical absurdist horror, which dissects his experience of gender - both physically and mentally.
I SEE RED. welcomes the ultimate rejoicing of a performer’s love for the moving image. Two art disciplines work together to create a single piece as well as two different objects that respect their original forms. Cinema and Theatre existing side by side, living on their own but, at the same time, highly dependent on one another. The audience will then be faced with two simultaneous narratives, one figurative, one abstract. The figurative will take the form of a film, playing alongside a live performance which will fall into the abstract.
Not to be minimised, and as advertised by the chosen title of this piece, the colour red takes on a role of most importance. Honouring the undiscovered technology of classic horror cinema, colour will be something that’s lacking. Red however, bold and harrowing, will be present, standing out in a horrifically aesthetic manner.
From Lovecraftean mythology to Nosferatu to Dario Argento, I SEE RED. aims to present itself as a love letter to the horror genre. Imagined or witnessed before a screen, it’s all about fiction that moves through images.
WHEN THEATRE MEETS CINEMA
This project certainly is another moment when the limits between character and scenography will dilute themselves, in a relation between the tri and bidimensional. It’s not about a further step in the constant search for the new (being aware that Theatre has always been multidisciplinary). It’s about a search for a combination of ideas and images that can originate reason as well as perplexity, it’s the theatrical experience as a process of vitality.
Silvestre correia
(ARTISTIC DIRECTOR)
PERFORMED AND DIRECTED BY SILVESTRE CORREIA . ORIGINAL SCORE BY JOSÉ VALENTE
ORIGINAL TEXT BY GEORGE MURPHY (ADAPTED BY SILVESTRE CORREIA)
FILM CAST ANABELA RIBEIRO . BÁRBARA BRUNO . CAROLINA DOMINGUEZ . GEORGE MURPHY . SILVESTRE CORREIA
SPECIAL THANKS
ANTÓNIO OLAIO
CAROLE WHITEHURST
FÁTIMA CARVALHO
FRANCISCO CARVALHO
KEVIN EGAN
KYLA EYRE
MICHAEL PINCHBECK
PATRICK CAMPBELL
What is I SEE RED. about?
I SEE RED. is deeply personal. I like to refer to it as a macabre perception of femininity by my own troubled imagination, not only as a performer, a theatre director and newly born film director, but also as a trans man who, like others, has faced troubles regarding his own physical and mental health.
In this semi-biographical absurdist horror fiction, Wendy, our cinematic protagonist, wanders in fear. Her sight purposely obfuscated by pink as she desperately clings on to a reality where she does not belong. Her fears lie in the colour red, the colour of danger but also, let’s not forget, desire. Red is in fact the desired reality, pink the veil that separates the individual, Wendy, from her true purpose.
What is your ultimate goal with I SEE RED.?
I would like to believe it will enthusiast enthusiasts. And by enthusiasts, I mean anyone who loves theatre, cinema, music, photography, dance, painting, any art form. It’s a show directed by someone who truly enjoys the artistic objects that surrounds us and wishes to share that enthusiasm with others.
Why should theatres welcome your show?
I SEE RED. exposes, in a very particular way, a trans man’s experience of gender. There’s no denying gender identity plays a huge role in people’s lives and that there’s a lot of misconceptions regarding the subject floating about. Clarification is needed nowadays. I SEE RED. is a film that goes beyond its meaning however, it’s more than just an exposure of a subject, a teaching tool, it’s an object deserving of appreciation as well and I do believe it’s worthy of being seen.
What characterises I SEE RED.?
It’s a peculiar show, quite bare when it comes to set and it might not be the easiest theatrical piece to grasp when it comes to its meaning but it is there, it just plays a different part than usual.
Where do you look for inspiration?
From other’s work. I don’t copy but I do love to observe, take hold of others’ imaginary, toss it aside and develop my own, creating something new from the scraps.
Why did you decide to make a film for this piece?
I’ve been working in the theatre scene for almost 10 years now and have been wishing to make a change for a while. Getting into filmmaking was bound to happen. Specially because I have always particularly enjoyed playing with different artistic elements in my performances. I would say it was an unavoidable outcome really.
What do you consider your greatest achievement in your professional path?
Starting out, the very beginning, the taking of that first step to put my work out there. Never regretted it, it has unlocked so many doors, has made life a little brighter and I’m fortunate enough to say that, since then, after the creation of my first piece, a video performance object, I have accomplished many things throughout my career as an art maker.
What I’m looking towards now is just for I SEE RED. to be shown to audiences, to be performed and screened and seen by others. This would bring me great joy.
And, without a doubt, I wish for I SEE RED. to open the possibility for other projects to emerge. I don’t want this show to be my last and I can’t help but be brilliantly excited to see what the future holds.
SILVESTRE CORREIA . DIRECTOR / MOUTH (LIPS AND TEETH) / USHER (LIVE)
Silvestre is a performer and theatre director whose work is born from a flow of thoughts that are united into something that goes beyond definition.
It’s about exposing a something that cannot be fully explained, something disturbing yet playful that lives and breathes in the Abstract.
(find out more at www.silvestrecorreia.com)
JOSÉ VALENTE . COMPOSER / VIOLIST
"Considered one of the most innovative violists of his generation, José Valente continues to develop an intense musical activity defined by the irreverence, contemporaneity and virtuosity of his playing and composing. Since his return from New York, the awarded violist has been exploring the limits of his instrument through the symbiosis of diverse musical styles, rarely associated with the traditional repertoire for viola, establishing consequently a unique musical voice."
(find out more at www.josevalente.com)
GEORGE MURPHY . WRITER (SCREENPLAY) / MOUTH (VOICE)
George Murphy is twenty-five years old. He is six feet four. He bleaches his hair peroxide blonde and smokes forty cigarettes a day.
In 2019, he received his Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing, and in 2020, his Master of Arts in Creative Writing, both from Sheffield Hallam University.
He writes the macabre and grotesque. He has a pet fox named Phyllis who is long since dead, and he does not like Thursdays.
CAROLINA DOMINGUEZ . WENDY
Portuguese actress born in the year 1992 with a degree in acting for Theatre from Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema (Lisbon). She has worked with many, having been directed by Teresa Gafeira, João Brites, Miguel Fragata, Inês Barahona, Luís Miguel Cintra, Ricardo Neves Neves, António Simão, Francisco Salgado, Francisco Nicholson, Triccia Hitchcock and Silvestre Correia in Theatre and, in Cinema, by Michael Sturminger.
BÁRBARA BRUNO . MOTHER
Bárbara Bruno is a Portuguese actress who studied acting at Balleteatro (Porto) and holds a Theatre degree from Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema (Lisbon).In the past, she has worked with Ricardo Neves-Neves, Daniel Gorjão, André Teodósio, Sara Ribeiro, Tiago Vieira, Jorge Andrade, Marco A. Lima. and Silvestre Correia.
ANABELA RIBEIRO . HER
Portuguese Actress with a degree in acting for Theatre from Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema (Lisbon) and in Artistic Studies from Coimbra’s university. She began her theatrical path in CITAC (Coimbra) and, in her career, Anabela has received direct guidance from Tiago Vieira, Luís Miguel Cintra, Luca Aprea, Jean Paul Bucchieri, Francisco Salgado, Vânia Rovisco, Peter Michael Dietz, Andrés Bezares, Mafalda Saloio, Pedro Fabião, Rodrigo Santos, Wojtek Ziemilsky and, professionally, has worked with the directors Tiago Vieira, Isac Graça, Pedro Baptista, Mário Coelho, Teresa Gafeiro and Silvestre Correia.
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