Antonio Tabet is considered one of the main names in Brazilian humor. He is part of the pioneers of art in the internet format, through Porta dos Fundos and his channel Kibe Louco, the 51-year-old carioca became known especially for bringing life to Sergeant Peçanha. THE Over the past year, the character has gained space on theater stages in Brazil. Now, in November, Tabet is preparing to bring the caricatured policeman he plays to Portugal with the play Peçanha – Security Protocolwhich debuts in Estoril on the 14th.
“I don’t consider it a transition, but rather an adaptation, because I continue making films, series, soap operas”, he tells DN Brazil about his stage debut. “Despite having taken theater and acting courses, I didn’t imagine myself making a living from theater at some point in my life, because just thinking about doing the same thing from Thursday to Sunday, the same text, the same routine gave me a certain pause“, says the actor who, with his recent experience in theater, saw that being on stage is far from being boring.
Previously focused on audiovisual content, Tabet was faced with much greater dynamics than he expected in the play’s presentations. “I discovered that there is no such thing as boredom of doing the same thing from Thursday to Sunday. It changes everything: the audience changes, the weather changes. It’s very curious how a show, even though it’s the same text, with some time for improvisation, changes not only from city to city, but also from session to session. Sometimes I’m doing two sessions in the same theater on the same day and one audience is one way, the other, two hours later, is another. This way the piece is different: it took away the fear I had before”, he reveals.
In addition to Estoril, the show passes through Leiria (19), Porto (20), Guimarães (21) and Lisbon (26) and will have some adaptations, although, for the actor, there is a very close proximity between the two countries. “The relationship between Brazil and Portugal has always been close. I don’t see it as ‘another culture’; I see it as if Portugal were the arm of Brazil and Brazil were the arm of Portugal”says Tabet, proud of the recognition he has in his homeland.
“Porta dos Fundos was very successful in Portugal. I am very fortunate to have written and starred in some of the sketches who were very successful there, like the blue ball gorilla, for example. The last time I went I was impressed, I realized that, walking down the street, I am more recognized in Portugal than in Brazil“, he states.
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Although it maintains the structure of the play for the Portuguese audience, it takes contexts from Security Protocol will have to be changed. One of them is in the parts where the character references the former mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Bishop Marcelo Crivella (Republicans), who, in the five presentations in Portugal, will possibly be another politician.
“It’s obvious that the Portuguese public doesn’t know, for example, who Crivella is – although some Brazilians who live in Portugal do. In this case I will probably talk about André Ventura, who is a figure known not only by the Portuguese, but obviously by the Brazilians who are there too“, he explains. “But of course it’s a very Brazilian play, it’s a police officer in Rio de Janeiro presenting a show. She is very Brazilian, but she speaks of a feeling of hypocrisy and political correctness, and it touches on the ‘woke’ culture, which is a worldwide phenomenon. It will be interesting to see this in another country“, he emphasizes.
Tabet’s curiosity in relation to the Portuguese public falls squarely on the topic that has generated controversies in Brazil and here in recent times: with the issue of the “limit of humor”, taking over the debate, the terms “politically correct” ea “cancel culture” they spark discussions proportional to their respective complexities.
“Political correctness is positive as a tool for us to evolve as a society. In the 80s, when I grew up, making racist jokes was not only common but encouraged, you turned on open TV and there was that kind of thing. Political correctness comes in to measure this, educate society, improve us as citizens“, understands the comedian, who sees on the internet, some points of the limit of humor get confused. “The problem is that social networks, with everyone becoming their own editor, have made vanity grow. Everyone wanted to become a prosecutor, judge and executioner and that’s where cancel culture comes in”, reflects the actor.
Between laughter and discomfort, Antonio Tabet brings to Portugal this character who pokes fun at “political correctness” without asking for permission. The test is now in front of an audience that, as he says, knows Peçanha even better than the Brazilian audience.
nuno.tibirica@dn.pt