TE19 Iberian Adventure

Two Pieces Patrícia Portela Translated from Portuguese by Rahul Bery

Stage Directions

Open me.

Read me.

Ideally without interruptions,

But if you must stop, then laying me down gently, and only in the case of force majeure, accident, surprise or to take a brief rest.

Yes, I’m asking that you read me whole. I exist for no other end.

Do not wish for abandonment to be my fate.

But don’t read me just to pass the time either.

Read me as if I made a difference to you.

As if I were happening to you.

Read me as if, in every Hollywood film, the aliens walked around favelas instead of some smart Washington or New York suburb, and understood every language spoken on this planet (except for English), since they have long known that Tupi or not Tupi, which is 51