Actress, singer, and dancer Luiza Lewicki, 24, is part of the cast of the play AMIGAS, which reopens on March 2nd at the Teatro Vannucci in Rio de Janeiro. Adapted by her alongside Isabel Castello Branco and Julia Iorio, the show marks a special moment in her artistic career, bringing together acting, directing, and female protagonism in a new contemporary interpretation of Duda Ribeiro’s original text. With a solid background in musical theater, television experience, and recent awards on stage, Luiza celebrates the return of the production as a symbol of professional growth and the strengthening of culture produced by women. The production is directed by Ernesto Piccolo.
You not only act in AMIGAS, but you also adapted the script with your friends. At what point did you realize you wanted to put your own voice into the work, and not just interpret what was already written?
The idea behind AMIGAS has always been to connect with our generation, to bring young people to the theater. We understood that, to do that, we needed to bring these stories into the present day! And with an even cooler twist: our own stories!
The play is about female friendship, and the creative process itself stemmed from the friendship between the three of you. How much of your real life ended up invading the dramaturgy? Are there scenes or lines that carry personal experiences?
Yes! Many! Our partnership is very similar to the partnership of the characters! Three completely different personalities that complement each other! There are many of our experiences there, and lines literally taken from our own stories!
The original production is from 25 years ago. What do you feel has changed most in the way we love, relate, and are women today—and that needed to be included in this new version?
I think the biggest difference between then and now is how much we talk about these issues and take a stand on what’s right! Today we have much more acceptance and space to talk about everything!
Sharing the stage with friends is very different from acting with “traditional” colleagues. Does this make the process easier or also more emotionally challenging?
Look, in our case it was much easier! Especially because, the three of us, since we met, noticed that we think very similarly! And when we think differently, our ideas complement each other a lot! So the creative process, the rehearsal, and the collaborative work experience is great!
You move between acting, singing, dancing, directing, and even teaching. In which of these areas do you feel you are most “Luiza’s essence”? Or does each role reveal a different side of you?
I think my greatest essence is precisely this flexibility to do all of this. All these areas complement each other and bring benefits to one another! Luiza the director teaches a lot to Luiza the teacher, who teaches a lot to Luiza the actress, and so on… and that’s where my essence comes from! From this desire to do a little bit of everything and grow more and more.
After so many musicals and now also directing, what has this more mature phase of your career taught you that Luiza from the beginning, in Niterói, didn’t yet know?
Everything has its time. Everything happens when it’s meant to happen! And to be patient because life takes completely different turns than we plan! And it’s a good thing that happens, it couldn’t be better!
The play’s return now, with sponsorship and full theaters, must have a special flavor. Was there a moment when you thought, “Wow, we really built this from scratch?”
I can only remember the moment we decided to do this… It was during a break at university, when we decided to put on a play ourselves! It was born there, from three theater students wanting to make their own thing happen! And seeing the scale that AMIGAS has reached today is surreal!! It was already surreal before, when we were on stage for a year, even though, in the beginning, the program was only for one month!
If a young actress were to see AMIGAS today and leave the theater dreaming of creating her own project with her friends, what advice would you give her?
Do it! Join forces with people who believe in you, with people who know the environment, with people who They also don’t want to give up, especially with committed people… Surround yourself with people who will buy into your idea and fight for it until the end!
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