Based on reportage, letters, and diaries of a young American foreign correspondent broadcasting from Brazil and writing from Amazonia and South American cities from Brasilia to Buenos Aires, 1963-1971, Rio Journal offers an incantatory look at a city and country under a military dictatorship.
The 75-minute play is derived from the writings of West Pier resident Lance Belville, who passed away in 2020, and is directed by his widow, Lynn Lohr.
Lance Belville arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 1963 after working as a freelance journalist in Berlin. This work-in-progress West Coast premiere has been devised by Lynn from extensive files Belville preserved including transcriptions of his broadcasts, marked-up copy curtailed by the censors, clippings of his articles from Argentina to France, journals written at campfires along the rivers of the Amazon, and letters to and from far-flung family and friends explaining a scene truly foreign to Main Street. Two actors introduce a gallery of characters from colonels to comedians with an underscore of samba and suspense.
Festival director Andrew Wood stated, “Lance Belville’s life as a young journalist in an authoritarian Brazil, and his reporting on CIA involvement, directly impacted and influenced the artistic outlook of his career as a playwright. It is fortunate for us that Lance’s papers were saved and fashioned into a work that reveals much about what he witnessed. Historical scenarios resonate with current world events.”
Actor Sean Mireles Boulton, who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ashland and performed with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, plays the journalist, while actor Juliana Eiras portrays his memories, using her theatrical education from UNICAMP, part of the university system of São Paulo state. Theater and film composer Eric Peltoniemi contributes songs in tribute to the times.
On April 1, 1964, as a military coup shook Brazil, Lance was hired by the wire service United Press International (UPI) to provide news bulletins to press outlets all over the world. He would go on to report for ABC News, broadcasting from Rio as a military dictatorship grew steadily more repressive and dangerous. He would accompany two protection service expeditions into the Amazon, witness and report the courage of workers, students, and indigenous tribes, and find his way as a writer.
Belville Productions, formerly Bons Tempos, has been producing plays drawn from social issues, folklore, and history and telling untold stories since 2016. Their drama Qaddafi’s Cook played SFIAF in 2023 after originating in Mexico and touring to London, New York, San Diego, Hollywood, Minneapolis, and Indianapolis. Co-founder Tom Berger is the Rio Journal producer and production manager.
Performances of Rio Journal are at Theatre of Yugen, 2840 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, Thursday, May 7 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, May 9 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Ticket prices range from $15 to $30, plus fees. More information at Belville Productions.