If there’s one thing São Paulo residents love, it’s theater, and the city is brimming with incredible productions this month. So, check out our guide to the best shows playing in São Paulo in September and immerse yourself in unforgettable stories. Choose your favorite and enjoy the show!
In this immersive theater experience, the audience stops being spectators and takes on the role of a jury in a U.S. courtroom. For 60 minutes, you’ll analyze real evidence and testimonies to decide the defendant’s fate. With intense performances and a realistic setting, the play challenges your logic and perception in an atmosphere of pure tension.
Brazil in Review
Subject to availability
The new show, directed by Alexandre Kavanji, offers a profound reflection on who truly tells the story of our country.
Moving away from traditional textbooks, the production swaps kings and emperors foranonymous heroesandfigures of resistance against exploitation, such as thewomen of Tejucopapo andtheactivist José do Patrocínio.
My Medicine
Directed by João Fonseca, the award-winning production explores biographical moments from the actor’s life, connecting his Syrian and Portuguese family heritage to sensitive and humorous reflections on identity, memory, and belonging.
Accompanied by live music performed by the artist himself on stage, the production weaves together emotional memories of childhood and youth with an engaging and moving narrative.
Janaina Leite Residency and Núcleo do Olho
Internationally recognized as one of the most thought-provoking voices in contemporary theater, actress and director Janaina Leite is taking over the Capobianco Institute with an intense artistic residency alongside Núcleo do Olho.
The audience can enjoy four cutting-edge shows—including the award-winning *Stabat Mater* , and the brand-new production *A Caixa Preta – Versão Demo* —as well as lecture-performances, workshops, and immersive activities. The program boldly navigates the realms of art, pornography, technology, philosophy, and social dynamics, challenging the boundaries between life and the stage.
🔞 For ages 18 and up
Sidarta
Conceived and starring Angel Ferreira, this one-person show brings to the stage the result of five years of research on Hermann Hesse’s famous novel of the same name, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
With a minimalist aesthetic and lighting nominated for the 2025 Shell Award, the show takes the audience on the protagonist’s personal journey through ancient India, moving from extreme deprivation to materialism and finally to simplicity.
🔞 For ages 18 and up
♿ Accessible venue (seats reserved for people with disabilities and people of larger size available via reservation or at the box office)
HELENAS
The play “Helenas” takes as its starting point the book *Malleus Maleficarum* (The Hammer of Witches), a 1486 treatise that served as a guide for the Inquisition to hunt down and exterminate women accused of witchcraft.
The production offers a powerful reflection on historical and contemporary violence against women’s bodies, fostering a poetic and urgent debate in the heart of the city.
🚫 Recommended for ages 16 and up
Mazal Tov – When Life Smiles
Adapted for the stage for the first time from J. S. Margot’s bestseller, the play comes to São Paulo directed by Dan Rosseto.
Set in Antwerp in the 1990s, the story follows Margot, a student hired by an Orthodox Jewish family, and her boyfriend Nima, an Iranian refugee.
The production explores the delicate balance between cultural differences, traditions, and a sense of belonging, offering a moving reflection on love and human relationships.
Ask Anything
With an original script by Gustavo Pinheiro and direction by Guilherme Gobbi, the show brings actresses Gabriela Medvedovsky and Daphne Bozaski together on stage for the first time.
The plot begins with a lie and a delay, using wit and humor to explore the boundaries between humanity and technology in contemporary daily life. The actresses take turns playing the characters at each performance, ensuring a unique and thought-provoking experience every day.
♿ Accessible venue
Autobiography of Red – Extended Schedule
Starring Bianca Comparato and directed by Daniela Thomas, the play retells the myth of Geryon, a young, winged red monster who begins writing his autobiography while still a child.
The narrative blends Greek lyricism with contemporary texts by Anne Carson to explore universal themes such as vulnerability, the discoveries of youth, and the pain of an obsessive passion experienced with Hercules.
Bibi Ferreira’s Heaven
With a script by Gabriel Chalita, direction by Gustavo Barchilon, and musical direction by Carlos Bauzys, the show pays tribute to one of the most iconic figures in Brazilian culture.
Actresses Giulia Nadruz, Bárbara Sut, Luiza Vianna, and Fernanda Biancamano bring body, voice, and soul to the many facets of this great artist in a poetic interplay between memory and identity. The narrative weaves together excerpts from plays, songs in various languages, and intimate accounts that shift between the real and the symbolic.
♿ Accessible venue (all sessions include Brazilian Sign Language interpretation)
Blending clowning, performance art, and biting humor, this solo piece performed by Tâmara Vasconcelos offers a profound reflection on silencing and the expectations imposed on women’s bodies.
The plot takes place at an amusement park where the main attraction promises to turn a woman into a gorilla, but reveals the inner workings and flaws of the trick.
