Group .BR is NYC’s only Brazilian theater company, presenting Brazilian culture through performing arts. The group is celebrating their 6th anniversary this year.
Group .BR serves enthusiasts of multicultural arts, contemporary, physical and avant-garde theatre. It produces plays in Portuguese with English subtitles offering the audience the opportunity to connect with the sound of the Brazilian language.
Born out of the love that its founders – Andressa Furletti, Thiago Felix and Debora Balardini – share for their Brazilian roots, the company started in 2011 with a public reading of the play Cerimônia do Adeus by Mauro Rasi. Fueled by the desire to give voice to Brazilian dramaturges, Group .BR produced A Serpente (The Serpent) by Brazil’s most known and controversial dramaturges, Nelson Rodrigues. With sold out performances and a nomination to the 2012 Brazilian International Press Awards, it was clear that the work should continue.
In 2013, Infinite While It Lasts, Group. BR’s first devised work based on the live and work of Brazilian poet and composer Vinicius de Moraes landed on the bohemian bar Nublu in East Village. A second run of the show happened in 2014 held at Studio 151 for four weeks. The show was nominated to the 2014 Innovative Theatre Awards for Outstanding Choreography/Movement and to the 2014 Brazilian International Press Award.
Most recently, Inside The Wild Heart, an immersive theatrical experience based on the life and works of the Brazilian Jewish writer Clarice Lispector, premiered in 2016, after two years in the making. The show had a five week run at the Immersive Gallery in Williamsburg, a multi-level 4,000sft venue. Inside the Wild Heart had four nominations and earned Andressa Furletti an award for Best Actress at the 2017 Brazilian International Press Award.
For the last five years Group .BR has grown considerably and its future looks very promising.