A ruby in the navel

With a sharp pen for prose, the poet Ferreira Gullar creates, with Um rubi no umbigo , a tragicomedy of “wild and rebellious humor”

This film , "A Ruby in the Belly Button ," by Ferreira Gullar, is a Brazilian comedy. It all begins in the home of a middle-class family, where Everaldo and Doca live, along with their son, Vítor. A fairly ordinary home, were it not for a curious circumstance: Vítor, a twenty-year-old young man, has a ruby sewn into his navel—the only way his late grandmother could save him from an untimely death. When the family found itself in debt, the father, Everaldo, found a simple solution: removing the ruby from his son's navel to pay off the debts.

Inspired by a newspaper article, this play by Gullar, written in 1970, was only published in 1978, a few years after his return from exile imposed by the civil-military dictatorship. The first production, staged the following year, was directed by Bibi Ferreira and featured prominent figures in the field of drama, including Roberto Fróes, Osmar Prado, and Ana Lúcia Torre.

A critical success, Um rubi no umbigo presents many interpretative dimensions, among them, the political, the social and the psychoanalytic – the latter very well addressed by the poet and theorist Hélio Pellegrino, in a text from 1979, included here in full.

This edition, in addition to reproducing the 1978 text, includes: a facsimile reproduction of the author's handwritten corrections to a copy of the first edition; the publication of the play's final text, rewritten by Gullar after seeing Bibi Ferreira's production; an excerpt from a news report about the case of the man with a ruby in his navel; some images from the program for the 1979 production and photos from the most recent, from 2011; and texts that bring the audience closer to the critical debate surrounding the play. The graphic design, by visual artist Gustavo Piqueira, is inspired by the 1978 edition designed by Eugênio Hirsch.

“The play is serious, despite its irresistible hilarious grip.” – Hélio Pellegrino

“Gullar’s humor is as subtle and demanding as Kafka’s.” – Luiz Carlos Maciel, Veja

"What a privilege it was for me to have had the opportunity to rehearse Um rubi no umbigo by the great Ferreira Gullar. His play glides through true theatrical carpentry combined with a reality brought to the stage through laughter." – Bibi Ferreira