BOTO Story of a Birth

A visceral, humorous autofiction that unmasks the complex reality of adoption

Fred Raposo

   duration: 60 min

info

The performance begins with the promise of a simple story, but quickly reveals itself to be something far more complex. What first appears to be a standard Latin American identity piece transforms into a visceral, humorous autofiction exploring adoption, origins, and the manipulation of spectatorship.  

In this tale, Fred must prove his own identity just to retrieve his birth documents from the hospital where he was born. Like Oedipus searching for his origins, he confronts a path where uncovering the truth demands paying with truth itself.  

This search intertwines personal and familial origins with memory, Amazonian mythology, and Brazilian soap opera. Rooted in his background and international trajectory as an artist, Fred brings together different facets of his practice in a performance that blurs boundaries and conventions. His hybrid, multilingual approach weaves together clowning, movement, and drama, unmasking the complex reality of adoption. 

Biography

Fred Raposo’s journey as an artist has always been one of movement. Born in Brazil and later training in Buenos Aires, he spent years expanding his horizons, first as a historian, then as a technician, and finally as a performer exploring clown, physical theater, and hybrid performance practices. Each stage of his path took him further into the world, yet always closer to understanding his origins.  

His trajectory included performing in Fuck Me, Marina Otero’s internationally acclaimed work, which toured across Latin America and Europe. This experience exposed him to new ways of making theater and offered additional tools that he now draws upon. This accumulation of experiences, combined with his years of training and performances, forms the foundation for the artistic approach he brings to his own first work.  

Currently at DAS Theatre in Amsterdam, Fred gathers all he has learned over the years, accumulating skills, insights, and experiences that shape both his personal and artistic identity. Presenting BOTO. Story of a Birth in Amsterdam, everything converges. The piece is a theatrical form emerging from a lifetime of exploration, travel, and curiosity, and a personal story seeking its own truth. 

credits

Fred Raposo – Idea, Performance 
Robin Pleio – Tech, Performance  
Aukje Verhoog – Dramaturgy  
Marjorie Boston – Tutoring 
Lison Bellenger – Production  
Julek Kreutzer – Choreography 
Nahuel Cano – Lambada  
Julieta Zeta and Marina Maronce – Communication 
Thomas Lenden – Photos