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2mo ago

Curitiba Showing of Rafaela Azevedo’s Satire Is Canceled After Tickets Were Sold

The venue operator says contractual issues forced the cancellation and the artist calls the move censorship, a dispute that could deepen debates over provocative art and religious criticism in Brazil.

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Overview

  • Organizers announced in early July that the 23 August performance of A Igreja da Fran at Teatro Ópera de Arame in Curitiba will not go ahead after roughly 200 tickets had been sold and buyers will be refunded.
  • DC Set, the private concessionaire that manages Ópera de Arame, issued a statement blaming unresolved contractual issues for the suspension and denying any link between the cancellation and the play’s content.
  • Rafaela Azevedo, the play’s author and performer, publicly described the cancellation as censorship and said the show had a signed contract before being removed from the Curitiba slot.
  • The monologue, financed by crowdfunding of a little more than R$100,000 and not by public grants, uses provocative satire to critique institutional religion and has required heightened security at recent performances in São Paulo.
  • Despite the Curitiba cancellation, the production plans to continue its tour with a July run in São Paulo and a September engagement in Rio, and the dispute revives past national debates over art, religion and free expression.