What is the meaning of the show’s title?

Monga is the name of a traditional performance which is very popular around the world, especially in Brazil. At the beginning, you see a beautiful woman trapped in a cage or a prison. Through the use of various special effects and physical gestures, she is gradually transformed into a monkey—an angry, frenzied, hideous monkey who breaks the bars of the prison and rushes toward the audience to attack them. It’s a kind of sideshow attraction found at the fairground or the circus. In Brazil, Monga is a classic of horror entertainment.

It is inspired by a Mexican artist, Julia Pastrana, who suffered from hypertrichosis, a rare type of genetic disease which made her body very hairy and caused several physical deformations. Throughout her life, she was treated like a circus animal, but after doing research on her, I discovered that she was actually a very talented creator. She was a singer, performer, and dancer who spoke multiple languages… but two centuries later, they only thing people remember about her is her appearance.

The show opens with you asking the audience a question: “Can you imagine living to a hundred?” Why is this question important?

In today’s world, the possibility of imagining life, the world, and the future has been taken away from many of us. We’ve lost the ability to project ourselves forward in time. I believe this is a very violent form of political control, a strategy being used against us. I want people to take back ownership of the power of creation and imagination. When you’re a hundred years old, what will your artistic, family, or professional life be like? This question is political because it’s intended to reawaken our desire to imagine the future. It’s an invitation to the audience, but it’s also a form of provocation. In fact, most people answer that at the age of a hundred, they see themselves on a beach, having a good time, surrounded by their family and friends. But deep down, we know that’s not realistic. If we live that long, there will inevitably be some kind of handicap, a failure of the body or mind, that we must learn to cope with. For me, that’s normal. For others, it might be a horrifying vision.

In Monga, you fearlessly perform naked in front of the audience. Is that also a form of provocation?

Years ago, my psychoanalyst said that people may be afraid of my body because they see that I am very aware of it. I laugh about it, talk about it, and show it, and by doing that, I remind everyone that it exists. I make everyone think about their own body and their way of perceiving it. My body displays elegance, sensuality, and grace; many people forget what they could show with their body. There’s a lot involved in becoming aware of your body.

I love being naked and I get naked whenever I can. My goal is not to provoke the audience. If my nudity makes people uncomfortable, that’s not my problem. In any case, after a few minutes, no one’s concerned any more about the fact that I’m naked on stage. Instead, it’s the brightness of my gaze, the twinkle in my eyes, that intimidates the audience. Maybe they expect me to talk about death, but I talk about life and the desire to be alive. For many people, that’s provocative.

You have said that in Brazil, accessibility has developed into a genuine field of research and knowledge in recent years. How is this view of accessibility reflected in your show?

It’s an important question. Usually, when you talk about accessibility, people think about something that has to be given—an opportunity or a space for people with disabilities. But for me, accessibility is about the search for a new language, a way of reinventing both artistic practices and ways of communicating. Just like in the text of a play, a description can be part of the work and contribute something to it, rather than being a superficial addition. When you try to “give” access, you control the space that is provided to people, but each person should be able to occupy the space that suits them. For me, the work and its message should be shared in a friendly, honest manner. That’s how we imagined accessibility during the process of creating Monga. Describing it allows you to see more and see differently. It introduces another layer to the acts of communication and creation.

Interview by Sara Fauteux

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