El Concilio de Amor: Archives and Sonic Fictions of Ibero-American Queer Theatre

• Grant number: 25/15086-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: February 01, 2026
• End date: January 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Theatre
• Principal Investigator: Marilia Velardi
• Grantee: André Felipe Costa Silva
• Host Institution: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/15032-4 - Sound archives of theater: implementation of a basis for research on the sound dimension in performing arts, AP.JP

Abstract

This research project investigates sound archives of Ibero-American queer theatre, focusing on three productions of the play The Council of Love staged in the 1980s in São Paulo (Boi Voador), Mexico City (Jesusa Rodríguez), and Barcelona (Teatre Lliure). The proposal addresses two main gaps in Performance Studies: the limited attention given to the sonic dimension of performances and the lack of systematic research on the historical and aesthetic legacy of queer theatre in the Ibero-American context. Inspired by concepts such as "archive of feelings" (Cvetkovich), "critical fabulation" (Hartman), and "archive/repertoire" (Taylor), the project weaves together theory and artistic practice across three main fronts: critical analysis of theatrical sound archives, development of queer methodologies of archiving and listening, and the creation of performative practices based on the materials studied. We seek to approach the concept of queer not merely as an identity, but as a critical, performative, and speculative practice capable of fabulating futures and destabilizing normative logics of knowledge, time, and memory. (AU)