Saturday, 11 October
10:30–12:30
Workshop
In Portuguese and English
Free entry, registration required (see below)

In The Tempest, William Shakespeare’s last play, Caliban’s mother, Sycorax, is described as a witch ‘so strong / That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs, / And deal in her command without her power’. Her son, held captive by the magic of the play’s protagonist, Prospero, is called a monster by most of the characters who invade his island. Caliban speaks of the island’s strange music, ‘a thousand twangling instruments’, unsure whether the sounds come from the island itself or from his own imagination. They stir him deeply, yet when Caliban speaks his words are twisted or brushed aside by those who encounter him. While he remains unheard, Sycorax is never given a voice at all and her story survives only through Prospero. With one misunderstood and the other unseen, both are erased as others claim the island and supplant their legacy.

Unveiling the Redacted Stories, a workshop born from the Marginalia Theatre, and facilitated by writer Vinicius Jatobá, departs from this notion of erasure. The workshop seeks to bring forth the overlooked subjectivities of secondary or marginalized characters, locating them in the muted corners of ‘classic’ texts, iconography, historical documents, and monuments. These new marginalia narratives are written alongside and in conversation with the original works, expanding upon and reshaping them..

In this workshop, each participant gives voice to a ‘silenced’ character by writing a short dramatic monologue in the first person. Working with texts in different languages and from a range of different contexts, and inviting the group for their own suggestions, Jatobá guides participants through the practice of elevating the characters’ voices from the margins, enabling them to claim space within the original texts.

The Middle Ground workshops offer the possibility to deepen one’s own writing practice and to be in exchange with other authors about issues around writing. Participants of all ages and experience levels—whether amateur writers, professionals, or literary scholars—are invited to join.   

To register: Please submit a short fiction text  of no more than 500 words in English, German, or Portuguese to middleground@hkw.de, indicating the workshop in the subject line by 20 September, 2025. Selected participants will be contacted in advance.