Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Acting into Action: Teatro Arena's Zumbi

1987; Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Kansas; Volume: 21; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

2161-0576

Margo Milleret,

Brazilian cultural history and politics

Teatro Arena de Sao Paulo was organized in 1953 as an experimental group dedicated to exploring the possibilities of the theatre-in-the-round stage. Over the eighteen years of its existence, Arena's members used their playhouse as a center for both the per­ formance and discussion of cultural and social topics. The group was an integral part of the growth of the theatre during the 1950's and 1960's that included both playwrights such as Jorge Andrade, Ariano Suassuna, Alfredo Dias Gomes, and Plinio Marcos and theatre groups such as Teatro Oficina and Grupo Opiniao. The development of Arena's art was based on the search for a Brazilian dramatic form that would provide the best means for study­ ing national social conditions. However, such goals were not immediately attainable. From 1953-58 the group struggled to gain recognition and economic security giving performances of European and American plays. By 1958 Arena had its own playhouse staffed with writers and actors who were prepared to initiate efforts at producing a national theatrical form for studying social issues. Arena adopted and adapted the existing dramatic models of realism and then later, Brecht's epic theatre, in order to create a moving portrayal of the Brazilian working class and its problems. Arena was interested in focusing on everyday situations that would characterize life as it was really lived and the actors worked extensively at reproducing the movements, habits, and language of the working class. Between 196264 Arena abandoned its national subjects in order to experiment with remaking or Brazilianizing versions of European classics, but immediately following the 1964 military coup the group resumed its interest in national subjects. The result was a new type of play, a musical that combined Brazilian history, Brechtian distancing techniques, and realism for the purpose of re-evaluating political