cia. pequod
The Pequod company emerged from a workshop fulfilled in 1999 by the Grupo Sobrevento, one of the most traditional groups of animation theatre in Brazil. Directed by Miguel Vellinho, a few actors got united around the common interest of renewing Rio de Janeiro’s puppet theatre panorama, approximating this classical art to the contemporaneous pop art and even other artistic manifestations such as music, literature, cinema, dance, photography and comic books. All that without losing the workmanship art of confecting the puppets, the costumes and the sets. Since the beginning, these were the basis of the company’s work, that now completes seven years with a solid and well-known repertoire recognized in all of Brazil’s extension.
SANGUE BOM, the opening show in 1999, was inspired, above all, in the vampire stories from the gothic writers and in the most sophisticated terror films. With these ingredients, the show got distinction in the most important festivals of the country, specialized or not in animation theatre, in cities like Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Canela, Porto Alegre and São José do Rio Preto.
The next step was NOITE FELIZ – UM AUTO DE NATAL, a musical Christmas show with live musicians and singers on puppeteering. It was the greatest surprise of Rio de Janeiro’s years-end schedule in 2001.
In 2002, Pequod produced O VELHO DA HORTA, a Gil Vicente’s farce redeemed to celebrate the 500 years of dramaturgy in the Portuguese language, inaugurated by the author. The show had three nominations to Rio de Janeiro’s most important award dedicated to the theatre made for children, the Maria Clara Machado Prize, in 2003: Best Scenography, Best Lighting and Special Category, being awarded in that last one, due to Pequod’s excellence in puppeteering and confecting its puppets. With a detailed adaptation of the text, original from 1512, the production had congratulated seasons in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Selected to take part in SESC’s Palco Giratório Project, O VELHO DA HORTA could also be presented in many other cities, such as Brasília (DF), Salvador (BA), Feira de Santana (BA), Aracajú (SE), Palmas (TO), Balém (PA), Santarém (PA), Macapá (AP), Rio Branco (AC) and Florianópolis (SC).
