Gustavo Dias-Vallejo is a theatre-maker and artist based in London, working in the intersection of theatre, performance, and creative projects with communities. 

“ I'm particularly interested in provoking unexpected encounters between stories, materials, techniques, and people - that can be a participatory performance show, a devised piece or an improbable adaptation & might (or not) include text, movement, screen and eventually, real life creeping onto the stage.”

Initially trained as a social scientist, Gustavo began his professional trajectory as a visual anthropologist, collaborating with NAVI (Visual Anthropology Centre at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina) producing/making ethnographic videos with different communities: traditional fishermen on the southern coast of Brazil, homeless people in the city of Florianópolis, indigenous groups from the province of Santa Catarina and members of social movements such as the Landless Workers Movement (MST), among others.  

“my work explores how theatre and performance can engage with the complexity of contemporary life –identity issues, latent struggles, unvoiced tensions, displacements & interconnections between micro/macro & local/global issues - hoping to manifest things that make people feel/think/consider reality in different ways (as small as this might be), like opening windows in our everyday lives.”

In 2014, he turned from the university to the stage, working as assistant director for OXO Teatro, a traditional street theatre company in Buenos Aires. From there he moved to Madrid, where he specialized in physical, devised, and contemporary theatre & co-founded the Dorotea Teatro company and The Tabacalera Performa Project: the company was based at The Tabacalera Social Centre, an old 18th century tobacco factory building transformed in a famous self-sustaining community centre in the heart of Madrid. There, the company offered free/open theatre courses and workshops for the community and created a site-specific performance, La Línea del Horizonte.

Since 2017, Gustavo has been based in the UK, working as an artist and teacher/facilitator and  collaborating across different contexts: fringe/experimental theatre, professional industry, educational institutions, and community environments

He is currently part of Projekt Europa's Artistic Advisory Board & Associate Artist at Exchange Theatre.