Joyous Depression

 

Co-deviser and writer of a comedy monologue about depression, built over the actor’s personal experiences, academic research and interviews with people with depression and psychologists. The play explores the mind of a depressed person, with many bits of humor. It explores themes such as the influence of our childhood in our take on life as adults, how it reverberates in our current actions, decisions, and ultimately, our current reality, and how do people deal with it to move forward - or not.

 

The Kafkian Monkey

 

Based on the story written by Franz Kafka, one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. Red Peter, the incredible monkey who became human, tells the Members of the Academy (the audience) the story about how and why this happened. The play explores questions such as "What is freedom?", "Is freedom a choice?", "What is the price of success?", among other themes that affect us as humans.

 

Who Da Man?

Director and creator of this comedy, themed upon the absurdity of the corporate workplace and job interviews. Inspiring materials ranged from the play The Gronholm Method, by Catalan dramatist Jordi Galcerán, to dialogues from Dilbert, by Scott Adams, and improvisations of the cast.

 

The Catcher in the Rye

Director and creator of this devised play based on the novel “The Catcher in The Rye” by J.D. Salinger (premiered at RADA), working with a cast of young professional actors and conducting their process into creating their own characters reflected on the characters of the book.

 

L’Amour, La Mort

Co-creator, Co-director and deviser of play based on the works of Jean Genet, working with a cast of masters’ degree students (RADA – Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts)

 

Measure for Measure

Co-creator, Co-director and deviser of play based on Shakespeare’s original text, working with a cast of masters’ degree students (RADA – Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts)

 

Assistant Director

Assistant to directors: Adriano Cypriano, René Piazentin (Cia dos Imaginários), Fernando Faria (Comparsaria Teatro) e Edu de Paula. Classic and modern texts, and devised works.

Cristina has been writing from a young age, winning a few school awards for creativity and narrative.  She continued to develop and hone her writing abilities through her education, attaining a BA (Hons) in Advertisement at the University of São Paulo, during which she was a finalist in the Apple Award for Creativity in Advertisement – Student Category, and working as a creative copywriter in advertisement agencies, before fully pursuing her acting career.

 

During her MA at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, London), she devised and directed an adaptation for stage of the novel The Catcher in The Rye, a sell-out highly praised play. The adaptation featured scenes extracted from the book and material written by Cristina and the actors.

 

She wrote, directed and produced the web series “It’s Not You…”, leading her to assist the Raindance Web Festival 2013 jury with the evaluation of Spanish and Portuguese speaking submissions.

 

She later translated and adapted the series into its Brazilian version, Não É Você..., nominated for the Best Comedy Ensemble Award at the Rio Web Fest.

 

In Australia, she co-wrote the play Joyous Depression, comedy monologue about depression, based on the accounts of actor Nores Cerfeda, academic research on the subject, interviews with volunteers and with psychiatrists and psychologists.

 

Apart from writing her own material, she has translated two award-winning British webseries: Future Duck!, by Henry Dalton, where the Spanish translation was decisive to winning the Best Webseries by Popular Choice Award at the FEW - Festival Español de Webseries, and Chronicles of Syntax, by Susan E. Clarke.

 

Cristina is multi-lingual and can write and work in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and French.