Innovative theatre takes up East Timor

Quito
By Martin Wesley-Smith and Peter Wesley-Smith
Performed by the Song Company
Presented by the Sydney Metropolitan Opera
Directed by John Wregg

Seven performances from November 11 to 27 at Rozelle Hospital, Sydney

Quito has been described as a piece of audio-visual music theatre. It integrates computer music, live vocal and choral music, puppetry, test and visual images to produce a work about Fransisco Baptista Pires, a Timorese musician.

Pires, nicknamed Quito, suffered from schizophrenia. He was found hanging by the neck in Royal Darwin Hospital in 1990 at the age of 26. This theatre piece deals with both the issue of schizophrenia and the situation in East Timor. It covers Quito's life in East Timor until his escape with his family in 1975, as well as events there post-1975.

The traumas of Quito's life at the hands of the Indonesian invaders are portrayed as having deeply affected a sensitive young man and sped up the onset of his disease. His personal plunge into despair is a metaphor for the horrific events occurring in his homeland.

The show has been developed with the full support of Quito's family and other members of the East Timorese community in Australia. It has been designed to be performed in a meeting room at the Rozelle Hospital. Bookings can be made on (02) 364 9457.

This article was posted on the Green Left Weekly Home Page.
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