Igor Cosso says reading the script for “Cruise” brought him to tears in his kitchen at a moment when he felt unmotivated about his acting career. The 35-year-old Brazilian actor had recently left television and was looking for a project that would rekindle his artistic interest when a friend told him about a London monologue by Jack Holden, an actor around his age who is gay.

Cosso pursued the rights to stage the play in Brazil, submitting his professional history to Holden’s agent before receiving permission. The production, titled “Cruise – Minha Última Noite na Terra” (“Cruise – My Last Night on Earth”), began its Brazilian run in Rio de Janeiro and is scheduled to arrive at São Paulo’s Teatro Ruth Escobar on Saturday.

Directed by Orlando Caldeira and translated by Rodrigo Nogueira, the play follows Jack, a volunteer on an LGBTQIA+ helpline, as he takes a call from Michael Spencer. Diagnosed with AIDS and given an estimated four years to live, Michael decides to spend his savings during the night of February 29, 1988, in London’s Soho. The story then turns to the morning after: Michael is still alive and must confront the prospect of continuing his life after saying goodbye.

Cosso rejects the idea that Michael’s night gave him a definitive farewell. He imagines the character rebuilding his life as best he could and describes growing older as a privilege for someone forced to remake himself repeatedly.

Dance is central to the production, not merely an accompaniment. Cosso says clubs offered LGBTQIA+ people a place to meet and feel a sense of belonging, particularly before the internet and dating apps. During the AIDS epidemic, he adds, the dance floor could also provide a safe space to release pain and simply dance.

The 75-minute performance features music by Fabio and Fael Mondego, drawing on synth-pop and house, and choreography devised by Caldeira. Cosso moves among Jack, Michael and other figures from the nightlife scene, wearing a costume designed by Tiago Ribeiro. The production uses a subtle costume effect to make his body appear thinner as Michael’s illness progresses, though Cosso has declined to reveal how it works.

The play also references the 1986 film “Top Gun” to explore repressed desire and challenge conventional ideas of masculinity. Cosso says a scene involving the film is among the most demanding parts of the performance, and that working on “Cruise” led him to break with patterns of presenting a heteronormative identity as a form of protection.

Set designer Vino Fragoso’s industrial railings and lights evoke the shape of a virus, framing the production’s discussion of Brazil’s public health system, the SUS, and the need to preserve memories of the epidemic. Cosso says revisiting this history onstage can help younger generations understand the past and value the rights and gains achieved.

Sources: Folha Ilustrada.