Os Sertões - A Terra(2002)

Os Sertões - A Terra is a carnival opera that adapts Euclides da Cunha's epic novel about the 19th-century War of Canudos in Brazil's backlands. Created by Teatro Oficina Uzyna Uzona between 2000 and 2007, this is the first installment of a five-part theatrical cycle exploring the conflict and its landscape. Rather than following human characters, the play treats earth, vegetation, wind, animals, rivers, and drought as living actors, revealing nature's intimate secrets and their resonance within human experience. The production examines how destructive power mirrors financial power, and how space becomes occupied and exploited. Enriched by subsequent works in the cycle, A Terra offers a contemporary lens on environmental interference, real-estate development, and a world growing hotter and more arid. The staging transforms da Cunha's literary vision into visceral, immersive theater.