Hilton Cobra

José Hilton Santos Almeida (born 25 May 1956), better known as Hilton Cobra or Cobrinha, is a Brazilian actor and theatre director.

Life
Cobra was born in 1956 in Feira de Santana, Bahia. From 1993 to 1994, he was a member of the comedy group Os Trapalhões. He directed the Centro Cultural José Bonifácio from 1993 to 2000. During this period, he was responsible for the creation of projects such as Nossas Yabás, “Projeto Griot”, and “Zumbi Rio – 300 Anos”. Later on, he was one of the co-founders of the Black artist group Akoben.

In 2001, he created the Cia dos Comuns in Rio de Janeiro, with the objective of amplifying the presence of Black artists in contemporary Brazilian theatre. With the collective, he led the plays A Roda do Mundo (2001), Candances – A Reconstrução do Fogo (2003), Bakulo – os bem lembrados (2005) and Silêncio (2007). In 2008, he played the main role in the adaptation of Luiz Marfuz for Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma. The play, stage by the management of Teatro Castro Alves, won the Braskem award for best play in 2009.

From 2013 to 2015, he was the president of the Palmares Cultural Foundation.