Mariana Percovich (born 1 December 1963) is a

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an playwright, teacher, and theater director. She graduated as a literature professor from the (IPA) of Montevideo. Prior to her reintegration into EMAD, she had been the Performing Arts Coordinator of her country's

Ministry of Education and Culture A ministry of education and culture is a cabinet position in the governments of several nations. In some nations the ministry of education and the ministry of culture are separate departments; in others, the ministry of education and culture al ...

, where she spent four years. She has won the twice. She has been part of the company Complot since 2007.

Career

In her childhood, Percovich already liked the theater through the influence of her parents, who helped her to be a "conscious spectator", although she had decided not to be an actress. Before starting her theatrical career, she worked as a in different media, such as at the weekly magazine '' Búsqueda'', where she held the post of editor of the culture section, and also as a literature teacher at different theater schools. Her first contact with theater direction was due to the support of director Carlos Aguilera, who allowed her to be his assistant on all the rehearsals of his play ''Ya nadie recuerda a Frederick Chopin'' in 1982, when she was 19 years old. Due to the lack of training offers for theater directors, Percovich worked under the tutelage of Carlos Aguilera, as well as directors Héctor Manuel Vidal, Jorge Curi, and , and also her father, who "made us look at architecture. From a very young age, he me to be very observant of my city." She continued her training in Europe when she received a scholarship to the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

in London, where she had as tutors

Steven Berkoff Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director. As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style known as "Be ...

and

Stephen Daldry Stephen David Daldry Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 2 May 1960) is an English director and producer of film, theatre, and television. He has won three Tony Awards for his work on Broadway theatre, Broadway and an Olivie ...

, among others. She was also at the in Paris, where she was a resident. In 2004, she began her first term as director of the Municipal School of Dramatic Arts (EMAD), which lasted until 2007, when she resigned her position due to professional differences with teachers of the school. Later she was Coordinator of Performing Arts of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay, where she worked under the direction of the poet and essayist

Hugo Achugar Hugo Achugar (born 1944 in Montevideo) is a professor emeritus at the University of Miami and a Uruguayan poet, essayist, and researcher.licentiate. She remained in the position until 2014. Since July 2015, she has been the Director of Culture of the .

Style

Percovich's direction style has been highlighted by "a scenic investigation of the relationship between the viewer and the space", which has led her to mount her works both in conventional halls and in unusual places, such as public or historical buildings, bars, stables, and train stations. She expressed this style from her first work, 1995's ''Te casarás en América'', which was presented at the Hungarian Synagogue in Montevideo. Her intention since then has been the search for new languages generated by "the aura and the symbols that emerge from those places" to interact with their infrastructure and give them a new meaning that serves as a challenge for the viewer. In the 1990s, her style was influenced by a play by Antonio Araujo, who was followed by the public while he performed his work in the corridors and stairs of the abandoned hospital "Umberto Primo" in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil. This form of representation was subsequently used in her works ''Destino de dos cosas o de tres'', ''Juego de damas crueles'', ''El errante de Nod'', and ''Pentesilea''. Percovich was inspired by her colleague Roberto Bartís to define her way of seeing the acting work and thus transmit it to the actors who work with her:

Works directed

* ''Te casarás en América'', 1995 * ''Destino de dos cosas o de tres'', 1996 * ''Juego de damas crueles'', 1997 * ''Extraviada'', 1998 * ''Alicia underground'', 1998 * ''Cenizas en mi corazón'', 1999 * ''Proyecto feria'', 2001 * ''El errante de Nod'', 2002 * ''Yocasta - Una Tragedia'', 2003 * ''Playa desierta'', 2007 * ''For Export del Uruguay'', 2008 * ''Medea del Olimar'', 2009 * ''Chaika'', 2009 * ''Cuartito Azul. Melodrama caleidoscópico y tanguero'', 2010 * ''Pentesilea'', 2011 * ''Clitemnestra'', 2012 * ''Las Descentradas'', 2013 * ''Proyecto Felisberto'', 2013 * ''Algo de Ricardo'', 2014 * ''Mucho de Ofelia'', 2015 ''Juego de damas crueles'' has been Percovich's most awarded play. For it, she received the Florencio Award twice – one for best show and the other for best director. Proyecto Feria was a

street theatre Street theatre is a form of theatrical performance and presentation in outdoor public spaces without a specific paying audience. These spaces can be anywhere, including shopping centres, car parks, recreational reserves, college or universi ...

project created by Percovich in response to an invitation from the

Mercosur The Southern Common Market (commonly known by abbreviation ''Mercosur'' in Spanish and ''Mercosul'' in Portuguese) is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full me ...

International Festival of

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, which was carried out at the different

fairs A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

of the city. For its execution, Percovich chose two models of fair: one of freaks and one conventional. The project represented for her the culmination of a six-year search for the integration of art with the national identity. After its presentation in Córdoba, the project was carried out in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

a year later. ''Cenizas en mi corazón'', ''Extraviada'', and ''Yocasta'' have been published in Uruguay, France, and Argentina in Spanish, English, and French. In addition to Percovich's presentations in Montevideo, her plays have also been shown in Santiago, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, São Paulo, Curitiba, Barcelona, Madrid, London, and Nuevo León (Mexico), among other cities. As a teacher, she has developed a national and international career in direction and acting. Mariana Percovich

Awards

In addition to the Florencio Award, Percovich has won the

International Theatre Institute The International Theatre Institute ITI is the world’s largest performing arts organisation, founded in 1948 by theatre and dance experts and UNESCO. It has hosted various events through its history, including the Theatre of Nations, an intern ...

(ITI) Award for ''Te casarás en América'', the Silver for ''Extraviada'', as well as the

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of peopl ...

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

, MEC, and Gralha Azul awards.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Percovich, Mariana 1963 births Living people Uruguayan dramatists and playwrights Uruguayan educators Uruguayan people of Croatian descent Uruguayan theatre directors Uruguayan women educators Uruguayan women dramatists and playwrights Uruguayan women theatre directors Writers from Montevideo