Meet João Hannuch

We were lucky to catch up with João Hannuch recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi João, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

My optimism comes from the fact that I’m absolutely obsessed with what I do. Of course, even the most die-hard optimist has their “why did I sign up for this?” moments. But I’ve learned that if you’re creating an art form that’s basically built on resistance, you have to cling to optimism like a life raft. And I try to pass that on to everyone who works with me—especially as a leader. After all, we should be able to laugh, even through chaos.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Essentially, I’m an artist. To me, it almost feels absurd to define myself as an artist and do just one thing. That would be like calling yourself a chef and only making toast. As cliché as it sounds, I’m truly a mix of everything I do.

First and foremost, I’m a theater director and playwright at Benvinda Cia., the theater company I founded in 2016, where we dive into the wild crossroads between Pop Culture and the performing arts. There, I have the privilege (and the creative chaos) of working with a diverse group of artists, exploring all the possible—and impossible—ways to bring our ideas to life. I write and direct plays that always come from an uncontrollable urge to say something and share it with the world.

Even though directing and playwriting have occasionally hijacked my time on stage, my love for theater started with my training as an actor. So, I’ll always be looking for ways to grow and develop in that area. Lately, I’ve been focusing more on my work as a clown—I’ve been learning from masters I’ve admired for years, which has been both inspiring and a great lesson in not taking myself too seriously.

I’m also an illustrator, mainly creating comics based on the plays we develop at Benvinda Cia. It’s an amazing way to extend our artistic research—plus, drawing people is easier than directing them!

On top of all that, I’m a teacher. I have the joy (and occasional existential crisis) of teaching both in regular education and professional acting training. Teaching is a beautiful job, but let’s be real—it’s also exhausting. I’m pretty sure I’ll never fully leave the classroom, but I’ll also never stop fighting for teachers to have better working conditions.

Speaking of which, combining teaching and clowning, I’ve been rehearsing my first clown monologue, *Aula de Aula* (“Lesson on Lessons”), where I bring to the stage both the beautiful moments and the traumatic flashbacks I’ve gathered in the classroom. It’s my way of turning laughter into a conversation about the real struggles of teachers—because if I don’t laugh about it, I might just cry.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I’d be a hypocrite if I said that good technical training isn’t important. I’ve always been studious and curious, and I hope I never stop being that way—because the day I think I know everything is the day I officially turn into a very boring person. So, of course, finding good courses, great teachers, and carving out your own learning path is crucial.

But I also believe that being a creative artist means truly listening to what’s being said, paying attention to what’s happening, and responding in a way that’s actually real—not just nodding and pretending you understood. These are skills that my time in the classroom keeps razor-sharp (because trust me, students can smell fake a mile away).

Beyond that—persistence and resilience. I won’t sugarcoat it: making art isn’t easy. If it were, everyone would be doing it between naps. That’s why it’s essential to keep your head on straight and surround yourself with people who help you make it happen (and occasionally remind you to eat and sleep).

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

I’d say the biggest challenges are, first and foremost, self-sabotage. Most artists go through this, and unfortunately, it can be paralyzing. Rejection is part of our job—actually, for artists, it’s *most* of the job. We get told “no” so often, we could probably add it to our résumés. And let’s be real—sometimes, those little voices of self-doubt sound way too convincing. Giving up can seem like the easier option, but where’s the fun in that?

The second big challenge? The industry is *brutally* competitive—often in the most unfair ways. Sometimes, it feels like talent takes a backseat to connections, and you watch opportunities slip away to people who simply knew the right person (or five).

Being on stage, performing, creating—it’s all incredibly rewarding. But getting there? That’s a battle of persistence, patience, and pretending you totally didn’t see all the rejection that came before.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

By Caroline Moraes
By João Hannuch
By Kalinka Maki

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