Raquel André is a collector of rare things. In Lisbon, Ponta Delgada, and Rio de Janeiro, she has collected over 90 meetings with people of all nationalities, genders and ages, who have accepted to meet her at someone’s flat, and for the length of an hour, construct a fictional intimacy to be captured in memory and photographs. The photographs and details of these meetings are the contents of a performance that tells a story about what this collection of relationships may mean. Just what are we looking for when we meet someone? In the age of e-mail, facebook, instagram, tinder, and grinder, we have all become experts at faking intimacy. We post what we eat, who we kiss, where we go, what we’re thinking and reading, what we like and dislike – all translated into in views, likes, and comments. Raquel’s collection results from an obsessive fascination with the terabytes of information that exist in each minuscule movement of another person. It is a reflection on intimacy that is explored one-to-one and amplified for the stage, all real and all fake. Each time the door opens for a new lover, Raquel André dives into an abyss that is the other, and reality and fiction merge. Each encounter is real. The flirtation is real. The intimacy may feel more real than fiction. And Raquel, the obsessive collector, holds on to the moments of each meeting, the rare objects of her peculiar collection, ephemeral and infinite.

Original idea, directed and performed by Raquel André
Set design and co-creation by Raquél André, Bernardo de Almeida
Artistic collaborators António Pedro Lopes
Sound design Tiago Martins
Light design Rui Monteiro
Music Noiserv
Co-Production Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II (lisbon), Fempo Festival das Artes (Rio de Janeiro)
Artistic residencies Walk&Talk (Ponta Delgada), Citemor (Montemor o Velho)
Research scholarship Largo residências (lisboa), zdb (lisboa), bv90 (lisboa)
Research scholarship Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
Project funded by DgArtes/Governo de Portugal