John Romão

With a precise clinical language, made of mysterious and erotic details, “Virgens Suicidas” [The Virgin Suicides], directed by John Romão and written by Mickael Oliveira, is inspired by the text with the same title by Jeffrey Eugenides and by “Mine-Haha oder Über die körperliche Erziehung der jungen Mädchen” [Mine-Haha, or On the Bodily Education of Young Girls], by Frank Wedekind. It is performed by Luísa Cruz, Vera Mantero, Mariana Tengner Barros and teen gymnasts. They’re all confined to an all-female space, living a routine, strict life: they engage in physical education, theatre and dance in a seeming idyllic atmosphere. There’s something disturbing between the walls of this place: aside from the girls enduring absolute isolation, away from the rest of the world, their submission to a harsh physical discipline arouses violent urges of annihilation in all of them. "Virgens Suicidas" targets the repressive nature of education; it is a dystopian call to arms, marked by the arrival and death of the adult body. 


John Romão dirige os seus espetáculos desde 2002: “Que difícil é ser um deus” (2017), “Náufrago” de Thomas Bernhard (2016), “Teorema” (2014), “Pocilga” de Pasolini” (2015), “Morro como país” (2012), etc. Entre 2006-2017 foi assistente de direção artísticado encenador argentino Rodrigo García eassistiu Romeo Castellucci (2010-11), tendo-o representado no Festival d’Avignon no projeto “Voyage du Kadmos”. Em teatro, trabalhou com Tania Bruguera, Romeo Castellucci, Rodrigo García, Tiago Rodrigues, Jorge Andrade, Mariana Tengner Barros, Jorge Silva Melo, Paulo Castro, Francisco Salgado, entre outros. Recebeu, na categoria de Teatro, os prémios Novos 2014 e Jovens Criadores Nacionais 2012. É diretor artístico e programador da BoCA - Biennial of Contemporary Arts (Lisboa e Porto).