O Beijo no Asfalto

Before dying, a man who had been run over by a car asks another man, an unknown who had rushed in to save him, to kiss him on the mouth. The gesture triggers public condemnation, as sexual prejudice feeds legal persecution and journalistic speculation. In Brazil, at the time of its first performances, Nelson Rodrigues’ O Beijo no Asfalto [The Asphalt Kiss] (1960) “was not a serene success”, stirring outrage and controversy. What about here, now? Miguel Loureiro brings his powerful artistic vision to this “Rio de Janeiro tragedy”, in a staging that respects the specific nature of Brazilian Portuguese by assembling a cast of Brazilian actors and actresses currently residing in Portugal. The defence of the Portuguese language, the main focus of our productions for this season, is also reflected in our passion for its variants and accents. And who can better convey that to us than Nelson Rodrigues’ stage writing, so adroit “in its straightforward use of the spoken language”. For him, O Beijo no Asfalto was first and foremost a metaphysical inquiry into the problem of death, as if life and death were embracing, and death was being kissed on the mouth. “How beautiful, to kiss someone who’s dying!”