“Can you imagine yourself at 100 years old?” – Starting from this simple question, “Monga” invites the audience to look inward, to unravel the tangled knots of their own lives: When did we abandon our visions of the future? To explore these questions, actress and director Jéssica Teixeira draws on a rich blend of theatrical techniques and psychoanalytical insights, weaving them together with the story of Julia Pastrana – a Mexican woman once commonly labeled the “monkey-woman” and becoming one of the great inspirations for Freak Shows. On stage, Jéssica Teixeira evokes both the 26 years of Julia's life marked by inhuman working conditions, as a dancer, performer and singer and the 153 years of sensationalism, greed, and exploitation that followed her death around the world. These two intersecting timelines – personal and historical, intimate and global – form the poetic and unsettling backbone of “Monga”. This is not a spectacle chasing after the audience to capture the one who can't run, the one who falls or the weakest; instead, the risk lies in Jéssica Teixeira’s fearless approach. She embraces her own strangeness, inhabiting it so fully on stage that it becomes natural, even familiar. With an unflinching gaze, she makes the audience both witnesses and accomplices, stripping away their comfort. The result is a psychological horror tinged with nervous laughter and unsettling empathy.
Infos
- Duration: 90 min.
- Language: Portuguese spoken language with German and English surtitles
- Age: recommended for ages 18 and up
- Note: Strobe lighting is used
Accessibility
Accessibility of Event
Accessibility of Location
- Simultanübersetzung in Deutsche Gebärdensprache
- Übersetzer*innen in Deutsche Gebärdensprache vor Ort vor und nach der Veranstaltung
Sponsors and Supporters
Director, screenplay, and performance: Jéssica Teixeira
Artistic director: Chico Henrique
Musical director and guitar: Luma
Technical director and lighting design: Jimmy Wong
Assistant for lighting installation and operation: Dara Duarte
Video/photography director: Ciça Lucchesi
Physical preparation: Castilho
Zabumba: Juliano Mendes
Stage manager: Aristides Olivera
Producers: Rodrigo Fidelis, Gabi Gonçalves, and Khazar Masoumi – Corpo Rastreado
International distribution: Corpo a Fora and Farofa
Funded as part of the Alliance of International Production Houses by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture as part of the series All In – Theater by everyone for everyone. With the kind support of the Friends and Sponsors of Mousonturm e.V.
DGS translation: Part of the accessibility measures at Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, funded by the Cultural Office of the City of Frankfurt and the Aventis Foundation.
Biography
Jéssica Teixeira is an actress, director, playwright, and producer with a degree in Theater and a Master’s in Arts from the Federal University of Ceará. Currently, she uses her weird body as the raw material for her research, which resulted in two theatrical solos, “A.L.S.O” (2019) and “Monga” (2024), which won Best Direction at Brazil's most renowned theater award, the 35th Shell Prize, and the ZKB Förderpreis 2025 – Switzerland’s Highest Theater Award at the Theater Spektakel in Zürich. In the audiovisual field, she has acted in several short films, including “Noz Pecã” (2024), for which she received the Best Actress award at the Gaúcha Exhibition of Brazil’s largest cinema festival: the 52nd Gramado Film Festival. She also starred in the feature film “Acsexybility” (2023) and series “The Others“ (2023), both produced by streaming Globoplay.
Hinweise zum Inhalt und zu sensorischen Reizen
- very loud music
- strobe
- Nudity