Teatro da Vertigem San Paulu, Brazil The Book of Job Antonio Araujo Director Once upon a time there lived a servant of the Lord whose name was Job and whose life was happy and prosperous, until Satan decided to tempt him and to test his piety. And God allowed Job to be deprived of his children and of all his worldly possessions, and to be cursed with an agonising and repellent disease. Yet Job did not lose his faith in his Creator... Such was the ancient Judaic legend which was taken up, as a starting point in his contemplation of evil and of divine justice, by a 5th-century poet and philosopher whose name has not reached us. And thus The Book of Job was born - a quintessence of Biblical wisdom and one of the greatest feats of human thought. In the original legend, Job, a pious and patient man endures all his sufferings without a word of reproach to God. In the Bible Job is a wise man with a restless spirit, and he opposes injustice for the sake of finding the greatest treasure of all - Faith. This faith presupposes accepting the irrational nature of the world, while believing in the existence of a certain hidden meaning which is beyond human understanding. Such is the lesson learnt by Job, his faith and his wisdom. Ivan Marques Translated by Luis Inacio Stadelmann Dramatised by Luis Alberto de Abreu Conceived and directed by Antonio Araujo Sets designed by Marcos Pedroso Costumes designed by Fabio Namatame Lighting designed by Guilherme Bonfanti Cast: Matheus Nachtergaele (Job), Mariana Lima (Job's wife), Mariam Rinaldi (Eliphaz), Sergio Siviero (Elihu), Siomara Schroder (Zophar), Vanderlei Bernandino (Bildad). Antonio Araujo is Artistic Director of the Teatro da Vertigem, formed in 1991. The first production of the theatre was John Milton's Paradise Lost (1992), awarded Special Prize of the Association of Critics. The production that brought Antonio Araujo recognition both at home and abroad was The Book of Job (1995), based on a story from the Old Testament. It has collected more awards than any other production in the history of Brazilian theatre, and Araujo himself has received four national prizes for it. Antonio Araujo's other productions include Clytemnestra by M.Jusenar, Upper Austria by F. Krez, AOI by Yukyo Mishima and others. He teaches drama at the universities of San Paulu and Campinas. His coming production at the Teatro da Vertigem is The Apocalypse, based on the Book of the Prophet Daniel. ¥ 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 May The "Moderne" Theatre Spartakovskaya Square, 9/1a