{"id":81307,"date":"2025-07-30T11:36:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T14:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=81307"},"modified":"2025-08-10T15:51:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T18:51:14","slug":"the-play-pacts-to-reforest-the-earth-portrays-2040-in-rios-mare-favela-where-all-that-remain-are-the-pests-and-the-power-of-ancestral-love-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=81307","title":{"rendered":"The Play \u2018Pacts to Reforest the Earth\u2019 Portrays 2040 in Rio’s Mar\u00e9 Favela, Where \u2018All That Remain Are the Pests and the Power of Ancestral Love\u2019 [REVIEW]"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Lino sisters embrace in a gesture of sisterhood as they face the repressions they lived before the collapse. Photo: Ana Cristina da Silva\/O Cidad\u00e3o<\/em> newspaper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Through dance, music, audiovisual and many laughs, two Black queers stage the end of humanity. Set in 2040, as the post-human era begins, the play raises the questions: what is <\/span><\/i>Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/span><\/i><\/a> like then? How can their favela help rebuild the world?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The play Pacts to Reforest the Earth<\/em>, showing at Rio de Janeiro’s SESC Copacabana Theater<\/a> until August 10, begins with a mood of subtle eroticism and intense glances exchanged with the audience. Little by little, the performance becomes a whirlwind of sensations: captivating soundtrack, sharp criticism, and a breathtaking performance by Wallace Lino<\/a> and Paulo Victor Lino<\/a>, the Lino sisters, who call themselves \u201cthe pests\u201d or, as they prefer, \u201cthe little pests<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about planting a tree, it\u2019s about how to plant love and also about what not to plant\u2026 We wanted to create a play that overflowed with joy, not sadness.\u201d \u2014 Desir\u00e9e Santos, co-director<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 2040, in Mar\u00e9, a group of favelas in the <\/span>North Zone<\/span><\/a> of Rio de Janeiro, the world is collapsing due to human intervention, bringing on <\/span>floods<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>deforestation<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>extreme weather events<\/span><\/a> leading to the end of humanity. Despite this, in their neighborhood, <\/span>Morro do Timbau<\/span><\/a>, the Black, <\/span>LGBTQIAPN+<\/span><\/a> Lino sisters keep on resisting. Accustomed to struggling in order to exist, they now ask themselves: how can we rebuild and reforest the world through affection, sisterhood, and the ancestral memories of family love that sustained us during the extinction of humanity?<\/span><\/p>\n

Born in Northeast Brazil and raised in Mar\u00e9, the artists stage their own lives: two deviant bodies that stand as part of the planet, not above it. With beer and beach chairs on a rooftop, Paulo Victor and Wallace inhabit a setting that moves between reflection and destruction, culminating in the reinvention of the world through the favela. In the post-human future they imagine, although humanity has come to an end, the Earth remains alive\u2014with the possibility of reinvention and, therefore, new ways of living.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Between<\/a>
Between beach chairs and a cooler, Wallace Lino and Paulo Victor Lino reflect tenderly on the women who shaped them, recreating loving memories on their rooftop. Photo: Ana Cristina da Silva\/O Cidad\u00e3o<\/em> newspaper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They dance, fight, laugh, tease each other, die and are reborn. Every gesture pushes back against colonial logic, normativity and the violence that insists on erasing bodies like theirs. The play\u2019s language is as plural as its emotions. Between Portuguese, Spanish, French and an invented language (taught to the public right there and then), communication becomes a collective act, with active audience participation.<\/p>\n

\"Between<\/a>
Between slaps and shoves, the Lino sisters clash on stage. Photo: Ana Cristina da Silva\/O Cidad\u00e3o<\/em> newspaper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Laughs come easily with jokes about zodiac signs or being addicted to Grindr<\/a> (a gay dating app), but soon take an emotional turn as the Lino sisters evoke the women who shaped them: their born-again mother, their cousins, and their \u201cindecent\u201d aunt from Parque Uni\u00e3o<\/a>\u2014labeled as such by neighbors because she liked to drink. These women were central figures who gave the duo affection and freedom from a young age. The scenes are emotionally charged. The actors themselves admit it\u2019s difficult to perform certain moments from their lives. Still, they state that staging these painful experiences is essential to dramatizing their journeys within this dystopian, Afrofuturist version of Mar\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Between laughter, flashy costumes, and strong interactions with the audience, the production develops themes such as the negligence<\/a> of Indigenous knowledge and the lack of human connection with the Earth, which is treated only as a resource to be exploited and poisoned. The play also invites the public, by means of an LGBTQIAPN+ favela perspective, to think about this new construction, to imagine possible futures.<\/p>\n

\"At<\/a>
At the end of the play, together in reflection on rebuilding the world through affection. Photo: Ana Cristina da Silva\/O Cidad\u00e3o<\/em> newspaper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the play comes to an end, it is difficult to leave without wanting to search for names, stories, and memories that already reforested love<\/a> long before the collapse<\/a> of humanity\u2014people who took a stand against homophobia and human rights violations.<\/p>\n

At a certain point in the play, Paulo Victor brings to life Jo\u00e3o Francisco dos Santos<\/a>, a feared and openly gay malandro<\/em> <\/a>who became an LGBT+ icon in the 20th century. A legendary figure in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s bohemian scene, Madame Sat\u00e3<\/a>\u2014as he was known\u2014shone on downtown<\/a> stages and boldly challenged cisheteronormative standards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Paulo<\/a>
Paulo Victor Lino performs as Madame Sat\u00e3, an iconic figure in Rio\u2019s bohemian circles and in LGBTQIAPN+ resistance. Photo: Ana Cristina da Silva\/O Cidad\u00e3o<\/em> newspaper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about what we lack, it\u2019s about what we have,\u201d emphasizes Wallace as he encourages Paulo Victor\u2019s performance of Madame Sat\u00e3. And, at the end of the homage, he poetically completes: \u201cMadame Sat\u00e3 needed to be the breeze so that we could be the wind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a powerful play, coming from a place that people usually discredit, but that has so much to offer\u2014with videos, bodily presence, and spoken lines that get the message across in a light way.\u201d \u2014 Kevin Santos, 27, audience member<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pacts to Reforest the Earth<\/em> is currently showing at SESC Copacabana Theater<\/a>, from Thursday to Sunday at 7pm, until August 10. There is a guest list for trans people, which guarantees them free entry to the play. To access the free ticket, trans audience members should contact Entidade Mar\u00e9 via social media<\/a>. Other audience members can purchase tickets directly at the theater\u2019s box office: R$30 (~US$5.50) full price, R$15 half price (~US$2.75), and R$10 (~US$1.80) for SESC members.<\/p>\n

The play is the result of three years of research by brothers Wallace and Paulo Victor Lino, produced by Entidade Mar\u00e9<\/a> and directed by Desir\u00e9e Santos<\/a> and Renato Linhares<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About the author: Karen Fontoura<\/a> is a journalism student at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ<\/a>), a resident of Rocinha<\/a>, and a reporter for the community newspaper Fala Ro\u00e7a<\/a>, where she coordinates the organization\u2019s institutional and project communications. She works with audiovisual production, reporting, and the promotion of community initiatives.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Support\u00a0<\/b>RioOnWatch<\/i><\/b>\u2019s tireless, critical and cutting-edge hyperlocal journalism, online community organizing meetings, and direct support to favelas\u00a0by clicking here<\/a><\/b>.<\/b><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas Through dance, music, audiovisual and many laughs, two Black queers stage the end of humanity. Set in 2040, as the post-human era begins, the play raises the questions: what is Complexo […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":81308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1288,1328,1268,1334,452],"tags":[3774,396,472,280,910,2128,474,221,78,1507,1143,37,362,318,1464,893,319],"writer":[3664],"translator":[3560],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[3805],"class_list":{"0":"post-81307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-highlight","8":"category-by-community-contributors","9":"category-favelaculture","10":"category-reviews","11":"category-rio20","12":"tag-ancestral-knowledge","13":"tag-art","14":"tag-climate-change","15":"tag-complexo-da-mare","16":"tag-creative-organizing","17":"tag-deforestation","18":"tag-environment","19":"tag-favela-culture","20":"tag-floods","21":"tag-lgbt","22":"tag-morro-do-timbau","23":"tag-north-zone","24":"tag-parque-uniao","25":"tag-performing-arts","26":"tag-play","27":"tag-sesc","28":"tag-theatre","29":"writer-karen-fontoura","30":"translator-kay-alvito","31":"photographer-ana-cristina-da-silva"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81307"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81388,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81307\/revisions\/81388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/81308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81307"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=81307"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=81307"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=81307"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=81307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}