Within the scope of QUILOMBO_TREMA!

Macacos is a piece about how racism and the erasure of Black memories and ancestry are deeply rooted in Brazil’s history. The play follows a Black man as he seeks new spaces to occupy, confronting and reflecting on the term ‘macaco’ [monkey], used against Black people around the world. It recalls episodes from Brazilian history and cites statistics on the mothers and families of young Black men imprisoned or executed by the Brazilian Military Police. Furthermore, colonisation is a key theme explored to explain how we have arrived at the present day. The issues raised by this Black man invite the audience to question the prejudice present in Brazil’s social structure and everyday life from 1500 to the present day. — Clayton Nascimento