Mise en abyme

About

Mise en Abyme is a theatre production created by Cão Solteiro and Vasco Araújo, beginning from a text by José Maria Vieira Mendes that Araújo previously used in his 2018 exhibition Morte Del Desiderio. The staging employs the device of mise en abyme to restage and refract that text, linking the production to memories of other plays and films. The work situates itself in the conceptual field of desire and the future, asking how a relationship with the future might remain open to the unexpected rather than closing into certainty. The creative process foregrounds material and sensory craft: Araújo’s scenography, Mariana Sá Nogueira’s costumes, Daniel Worm d’Assumpção’s lighting, and Emídio Buchinho’s sound. The performance features a cast of eight actors and two voice-over contributors, with production and photography by Joana Dilão and additional material work credited to a broader design and wardrobe team.