Vértice Brasil aims to create a Brazilian version for The Magdalena Project, an international network of women in contemporary theatre, founded in Wales in 1986 by Jill Greenhalgh. The project is committed to nurturing an awareness of women's contribution to contemporary theatre and to supporting exploration and research, providing opportunities to as many women as possible. The project has developed a unique horizontal structure which has enabled it to function internationally and to be adopted and extended by women all over the world.

Since its foundation, thousands of women theatre practitioners of more than fifty countries have engaged in projects that create opportunities for artistic contribution and mutual support. Meetings, festivals, pedagogical activities, workshops and other kinds of collaborations have taken place in countries such as Norway, New Zealand, Belgium, Australia, Colombia, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Wales and Denmark.

The project’s aims include to enable women to explore new approaches to theatre making that more profoundly reflect their own experience; to encourage women to examine their role in the future of theatre and to question existing structures and the creation of a forum to give voice to women working in theatre. Its overall objective is to create economic and artistic structures and support networks to enable women to work.

To achieve these aims, the Magdalena Project provides opportunities for women to work together and share pedagogical activities and collaborations. Besides that the project adopts an approach to documentation and disseminating information and works for maintaining the flexibility of an organic structure which will serve the expansion of the growing network. Festivals, meetings, lectures, workshops, books, films, publications, an yearly theatre journal - Open Page - and a web page (www.themagdalenaproject.com) are the means through which the cross cultural connections have been achieved. Two books – “The way of Magdalena” (2006) and “Magdalena – International Women’s Experimental Theatre” (1989) provide the history and development of the project. Source: www.themagdalenaproject.com

In the first years of activity, the project gave priority to actions that opened space and offered possibilities for women to know and learn from others experiences. Questions like “what are women proposing on their theatre practices?” guided the first meetings, opening space for dialogue and exchange. Later, the meetings approached themes such as physical and vocal training or survival dynamics in organizational structures like groups and companies.

The idea to create a Brazilian version arose in 2004, when the event coordinator Marisa Naspolini participated at Roots in Transit, in Holstebro, Danmark. Since then, she’s been engaged in stimulating meetings of discussion and exchange with actresses, directors and researchers from Florianópolis about the questions rose up by The Magdalena Project. With the accomplishment of Vértice Brasil 2008, this network has been definitely established in Brazil with the presence of co-founders Jill Greenhalgh and Julia Varley. This initiative aims to keep active and updated through the innumerous partnerships created between Brazilian and foreign artists and all the connections created by The Magdalena Project and Vértice Brasil.