Realm of the Dead

An installation performance

is a community-based art project conceived, written, and performed by Dr. Rogério Meireles Pinto, Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Innovation at the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

Pinto takes the audience on a journey as he recounts how he was consumed by the loss of his sister, Marília, who died in a sudden accident at just three years old, and by his later molestation by his father. The installation includes dozens of vintage suitcases and trunks that have been intricately crafted into sculptures, evoking how Pinto grew up in poverty in Brazil, and how at 21 he arrived in the United States and lived in New York City for nearly a decade as an undocumented immigrant. Each piece of luggage in the Realm of the Dead reflects an aspect of Pinto’s multiple physical and spiritual journeys; together they also represent the cemetery where Marília is buried. The performance includes material on ethnicity, race, gender, class, and other identities. Grounded in Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed, Realm of the Dead invites us to confront and to find creative ways to handle personal and social issues like grief, poverty, immigration, gender, sexual identity and sexual trauma.

Marília

Marília, a play, was written by Pinto and performed by him in November 2015 on Theater Row, New York City, as part of the United Solo Festival. Marília won Best Documentary Script at the Festival. Pinto next performed the play in July 2016 at the Vrystaat Community Arts Festival at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

The Realm of the Dead is freely adapted from Marília, in which the protagonist recounts his journey out of a childhood of poverty, sexual trauma and domestic violence during the time of Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964-1985). Arriving undocumented in the United States in 1987 at the age of 21, Marília’s protagonist struggles to build a life as an immigrant and an out gay man. He is haunted by Marília, who, in 1966, at the age of three, was killed by a bus outside the building where the protagonist’s family lived. Then ten months old, he slept unaware of the horror that would come to shape his life. The father, who had already molested three of his daughters, began grooming the protagonist when he was five. Am I a girl? he wondered. Am I Marília? Yet Marília was a comforting presence during cold, dark, winters in New York City, as he struggled to learn English, find work, and deal with homophobic violence.

Dedication and Acknowledgements

I dedicate Realm of the Dead to all children whose lives ended due to preventable accidents, such as the one that killed my sister Marília when she was just three years old. It could have been me, the youngest of eight siblings, who my mother kept safe and healthy under dire socioeconomic and political conditions in Brazil in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Realm of the Dead is based on my autobiographical play, Marília. I express my profound gratitude to my four sisters and two brothers for the hours of conversation and viewing photographs, as they shared with me memories of our sister’s accident and of their own often troubled childhoods. The accident was but one episode in our lives, one that has taken me half a century to accept. My mother has been my true inspiration. She had told the story of Marília’s accident for as long as I could remember, and so, when she died in 2012, I felt compelled to keep telling it. Working on the Realm has also  helped me to fill the vacuum my father left when he died in 1973, when I was seven.

David Pratt, my loving husband and partner held my hand through the past two years while I filled the basement of our home with dozens of suitcases, religious objects, and theatrical props. He has shown dedication to me and to my search for the truth. Without his intellectual support and sense of humor, I would never have been able to accomplish this. Eu te adoro!

Sarah Tanner is the best prop master and scenic designer ever! Without you, my dearest, this entire project could not have taken flight. There is no part of Realm that you have not touched, built, glued, reinforced, painted or advised on. Working with you for the past two years has been a journey of love and the development of a great friendship.

Erwin Maas is a fabulous director who knows just how to help me stretch my capacities as a performer and playwright. Erwin directed the original Marília, and for the past year has helped me shape Realm of the Dead in response to COVID-19 challenges, such as space limitations and social distancing. Together we arrived at a fabulous environmental format/design that will occupy the School of Social Work atrium and will allow visitors to view and to explore the installation for an additional two weeks following the performances.  

Jane Prophet, U-M Stamps School of Art & Design, is the Associate Dean for Research, Creative Work, and Strategic Initiatives. Jane has been instrumental in helping me see the interconnectedness of each piece of my work and what I am trying to convey theoretically, empirically, and artistically. Mentoring and nurturing me from the start of this project, Jane has helped me think through how to expand and contract my work to achieve balance and beauty. My dear friend, I profoundly appreciate your support, love and encouragement.

Marc Arthur has worked tirelessly alongside me in several projects as a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Social Work, including redevelopment of an Arts Collective at the school. He has worked on several aspects of Realm of the Dead. He kept all of us sane during video shooting, and even helped me with hair and makeup!

Jerome Rork has helped in every aspect of this project, from stage managing to installation to all things concerning videography and lighting. Jerome is incredibly precise and dedicated and the staff around him has responded splendidly every time I needed help. I have enormous gratitude to the entire staff of the school of social work.

Special Thanks

Regina Jennings

Mary Ed Porter

Cheryl King

Deborah Unger

Marcin Lipinski/United Solo Festival, New York City

Ricardo Peach/Vrystaat Kunstefees, Bloemfontein, South Africa 

Jane Prophet

Dean Lynn Videka/University of Michigan School of Social Work

Nicholas Williams

Phil Boos

Ryan Bankston

Tim O’Brien

Monserrat Rodriguez Warden

Doug Coombe

Palma LaTorre