Andrea Moraes (photo), from the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro (RJ), is a member of a Spiritist Arts Workshop (Oficina de Estudos da Arte Espírita) and is also a Spiritist educator and theatre instructor. She has a degree in Marketing and works as a commercial consultant. In the following interview, she speaks about several issues, including the importance of theatrical art in awakening human sensibility. 

When and how did you come across Spiritism?

As a teenager, I began to experience many mediumistic phenomena, without really understanding what I was going through. When I was 27, a family friend invited me to go to a Spiritist Centre for the first time, Casa de Jesus (The Home of Jesus), where I began to study the Teachings and eventually 

And where does your passion for the theatre come from? 

The theatre has become a part of my life from a very early age, when I was still in school. The school I went to in the Méier area of Rio had a very good theatre group, Imagem (Image). I later did a highly regarded theatre course and became even more passionate about the theatre. But I didn’t act for quite a while and focused more on production and teaching. I began a social project to help underage people involved in crime and set up a similar project at the Spiritist Centre, Casa de Jesus. My involvement with the theatre has been mostly in the Spiritist Movement. I have been teaching for 10 years and we produced a musical, Entre o Céu e o Inferno (Between Heaven and Hell), which is available at the YouTube Oficina channel. 

How do you see the interaction between Spiritism and the theatre? 

I think one feeds off the other and the final result can be quite interesting, both from an aesthetic and a Spiritual perspective. The theatre provides Spiritism with the technique and theory of acting, with different methodologies. So it’s up to the group to study and to choose which one will better suit its goals. At Oficina, we decided to have Sanislavski as the basis and we have used other references to complement the work.

Spiritism gives the theatre a different approach, which transcends the material world. It provides a vast amount of knowledge and information, which changes the way people who work with the theatre approach its art. It starts with the idea of self-knowledge, which is an essential part of Spiritism and gives the artist an opportunity to dig deep inside themselves. We also know there is an interaction with the Spirit World, both at the creative period and when you perform. You are aware that discarnate Spirits are also part of your public. Spiritist artists on stage also have a wider perspective. We know we are beings with vibrational power and the nature of that vibration will be essential for the contac we will have with the public. 

What is the most difficult aspect of acting?

It is to live another life with a personality that is different from yours, especially if it’s very different from your reality. That requires that you temporarily abandon your personality. The performance must be profound, truthful and believable for those watching. To achieve that, you need to adapt your body language, to study, to create a new voice and to feel what the character would feel. Memorising the text comes later. You will inevitably add elements of your own life or personality to the character, of course. It’s impossible to live a character without any input from the actor. In a way, it’s similar to what a medium does in mediumistic communication. 

What is the biggest challenge when producing a Spiritist play and organising the sequence of scenes and the script?

I think that one of the biggest challenges is to write a good script that gives plenty of opportunities for the actors, without falling into the trap of teaching a lesson. The theatre shouldn’t be a lesson of Spiritism and shouldn’t be about proselytism. I don’t think we have a problem with what to discuss or include in Spiritism plays. We have plenty of material available. Our challenge is how to do it. 

Tell us about the impact of the theatre in the Spiritist education of young people. 

Eurípedes Barsanulfo introduced the concept of contrast education as a powerful form of sensibilisation of the spirit. In the theatre, that can happen in a very natural way. If a child or young person is very agitated, we can offer them the possibility of playing a calm and cool character. That will allow them to come into contact with that type of vibration and will help them get used to that and perhaps include that to their private lives. That can be done with so many aspects of human personality. So, when we look from this perspective, the theatre ceases to be a mere entertainment activity, something that only comes up at special occasions. It becomes an integral part of the process of building knowledge and self-knowledge, as well as a place for sharing, for generosity and for mutual help, where we can encourage people to be proactive and to be protagonists. 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Spiritist theatre provides us with the possibility of making up for our mistakes and progressing spiritually, through beauty and sensitivity. It gives us the opportunity of looking deep into ourselves, it brings hope to the world and helps other people come into contact with the Spiritist Teachings. All that without the pretension of converting anyone. All we want is to do is to take love and hope to everyone’s hearts!