In need of works and modernization, IPE theater may reopen in 2024

It was at the Teatro do IPE, closed two decades ago in Porto Alegre, that Tânia Farias, performer of the Ói Nóis Aqui Traveiz theater group, presented one of her first shows, Tza Tza Ivstabó – a Russian neologism for the expression “everything, everything, go stand”. The staging, which told the story of the high school students of Colégio Estadual Júlio de Castilhos by themselves, took place in the early 1990s and, like Tânia, many actors from the local gaúcha scene were formed in that space. Last week, the structure, formerly the responsibility of the Rio Grande do Sul State Pension Institute (IPE Prev), was transferred to the State Secretariat for Culture (Sedac) and may be closer to reopening. Operations are expected to resume in 2024.

“I still remember the feeling of being in the IPE theater. There I started in the performing arts, there was even a newspaper review. It was very special”, recalled Tânia fondly. It recalls the feeling of being on stage outside the school, with capacity for 200 people. “It was an expectation, it made us like this world”, said the actor, also commenting that there was born the Arcênic group, at the time focused on street theater.

According to the secretary of Culture, Beatriz Araujo, the reopening of the IPE theater is an old demand. “We had already been called upon by the IPE and the artistic entities, but we still needed to take care of the heritage that is already part of the secretariat’s responsibility. Now, we can assume this heritage of the population”, she said. Beatriz emphasized that the main objective will be to promote the performing arts throughout the state. “Despite being in Porto Alegre, our idea is that the IPE theater is a reference for groups from other cities as well. The theater is not for big shows, it is to encourage the local scene”, she reinforced.

The president of IPE Prev, José Guilherme Kliemann, considers that the assignment of use for 20 years to the Secretary of Culture was the way to bring back the protagonism of the space. He also stated that there was no specific reason for the place to be closed for so long, but that the facilities were deteriorating due to lack of maintenance and that, at a certain point, it was even no longer safe. “Furthermore, cultural activities are not IPE’s vocation. We appreciate and encourage them, but we don’t have the structure, not least because it’s not just revitalizing, it’s maintaining and developing the projects”, pondered Kliemman.

In order to be able to deliver the IPE Theater in 2024, reforms will be necessary throughout the structure. The construction, located on Avenida Aureliano de Figueiredo Pinto, has already received the first technical visit from the director of the Department of Memory and Heritage of the state secretary of Culture, Eduardo Hahn. According to him, the coverage is compromised and it will be necessary to rethink the accessibility of the place. “In the 1980s, we had other rules for accessibility. I believe this will be one of the main changes,” Hahn said.

With a brutalist modernist architectural line, focused on the functional character of the space, with a high prevalence of materials such as concrete, glass and steel with straight lines, the idea is to preserve the language of the late 1970s and early 1980s. there is an intention to keep the molded plastic chairs for the audience, as well as the lamps and accessories that separate the atrium from the presentation room. He points out that the stage equipment will need to be updated. “Today, the structures and technologies of the stage have changed, from height to proscenium”, he said.

There are still no details on how the shows will be managed, nor the amounts to be charged, but the secretariat does not rule out outsourced management, as long as the requirements of the nature of the IPE theater are met.

For the actress Tânia Freitas, who gave one of her first shows at the IPE theater and fell in love with the stage, the return of the space will be very celebrated. “Theater is an exercise in analyzing society, if we have rooms equipped for local production, with an affordable price for artists and the public, I’m sure it will be received with open arms”, she reflected.