Let me love you

One of Brazil's most respected playwrights, award-winning film screenwriter, and two-time Jabuti Award winner, Alcione Araújo is releasing a book version of his unpublished play "Let Me Love You." The dramatic fiction is scheduled to premiere on stage in 2012. The story takes place on what the author imagined would be the last night of the Real Astória—a traditional restaurant in Botafogo Beach, Rio de Janeiro—before its demolition. The renowned playwright's play depicts a decadent, luxurious atmosphere, with red on the ceiling, carpet, and the waiters' bullfighter vests. It's a place for celebrities, the wealthy, and pseudo-celebrities who feel safe, far from the invasive lenses of the paparazzi. The "nights" at the imaginary Real Astória are highly popular. The girls carry bikinis and toothbrushes in their bags, and only those who want to go home alone go home. A place where unusual scenes, like a girl having dinner in just her underwear after being caught by her sister in her jeans, are mixed with fierce flirtations, like the whisper of a female voice that says, "Let me love you." The target, in a mixture of astonishment and sagacity, responds, "I will, if you don't ask me to reciprocate." Let me love you is part of the Alcione Araújo Theater Collection.