Oof! This year, actress Denise Fraga’s work schedule has been extensive. Let’s go in parts. In the theater, two plays were presented: “I am from you” and “We only know together.” The latter – in partnership with Tony Ramos, who returned to the stage after twenty years – returns to Rio until tomorrow the 30th, at the Teatro Riachuelo, after a tour in São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Curitiba and Recife. In total, about 300,000 people watched the two shows – or four at the Maracanã, as I like to compare them.
As for cinema, Denise Fraga will return to screens on the 11th of this month with the film “The Remains of Levros” directed by Marcia Paraiso. In the film, she plays the role of Anna Katharina, a literature teacher who decided to change her life after she turned fifty. With suitcases packed for Portugal, I decided to get rid of almost everything. In the other film, “Dreaming with Lions,” the actress plays the role of Gilda, who has terminal cancer and is searching for a way to die with dignity.
“When we do what we love, we don’t want to rest,” Denise, 61, from Rio de Janeiro’s northern region, born Lins de Vasconcelos, explains about her long working day, in a conversation with correspondent Fernanda Pontes, from the column group. “Business is active,” she adds. What’s more: he warns that he has many projects in mind for the future.
Like the character in “The Remaining Books”, who in the story cannot get rid of five books, the actress also has her literary favorites. “It’s hard to choose just one book, but there are those essential books. I carry in my handbag ‘His Thirty Best Stories’ by Machado de Assis. If I get stuck at the airport, I have Machado to rescue me. These are the stories we always read and reread. I advise everyone to reread Machado when they grow up.”
One of the thirty short stories in the collection published by the former editor is the 1882 masterpiece “The Alienist.” By telling the story of Dr. Simão Pacamarte, who establishes a hospital for the insane in the fictional village of Itaguay, the short story asks who is truly mad in this world. Nothing more modern.
Regarding the character in the other film, “Dream with Black” — in which an incurable patient tries to find a way to practice euthanasia — Denise also doesn’t shy away from the subject. “The film contains an uncomfortable sense of humor, making us confront our own hypocrisy on the subject. In Brazil, assisted dying is not yet a problem. Everyone has the right to dignity. Sometimes, dignity is the ability to choose.”
Nothing further was said or asked. After all, my dear Denise had to go back to work.