|
 Brazilian theater started to flourish in the '30s with the
production of texts by national authors. Until then,
the stages of the major theaters produced Italian and
German operas and exhibited established names, such as
Isadora Duncan, Sara Bernhardt and the lyric tenor
Enrico Caruso, among others.
By Kirsten Weinoldt
Culture may be in crisis, but theater is very much alive in Brazil these days. In Rio, Cócegas
(Tickles), the hit of the season, after being seen by 10,000 people is playing in a much
bigger room with a full house night after night and no end in sight. The comedy written
and interpreted by Heloisa Perissé and Ingrid Guimarães is made up of nine sketches. In
one of them, an anorexic model tries to show she is more than a pretty face; in another
one, a woman graduated in quantic physics insists on showing she's a pretty face too. Rio
has been laughing shamelessly.
In São Paulo, more than 150 plays were being presented at the beginning of September,
including some for children. Among them: A Ilha Desconhecida (The Unknown Island),
an adaptation of Nobel winner José Saramago's story, Abaporu (the man who eats in
Tupi-Guarani language), a show presented in a butcher shop: Cachorro (Dog), with
four tramps talking under a bridge; Gota D'Água (Water Drop), an old musical by
famous composer Chico Buarque; the Portuguese version of the Broadway show Les
Misérables; Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream; and Trainspotting,
baseado on Irvine Welsh's novel.
As recently as August 30, New York saw Nélson Rodrigues's (1912-1980) play Valsa
N.º 6 (Valse No. 6) presented as After the Ball. The work was shown during the
American Living Room Series, a theater festival intended to present the work of new
artists. Rodrigues, Brazil's most important playwright, is best known in the US through
the filmed version of plays like Toda Nudez Será Castigada (All Nudity Shall Be
Punished) and O Casamento (The Wedding).
The Festival de Teatro de Curitiba (Curitiba's Theater Festival) just announced that
registrations are open for those willing to take part in the 11th edition of
that national extravaganza that happens in the capital of Paraná state. The event, which
will last from March 14 to 24, 2002, is divided into four categories: contemporary
theater, children's theater, fringe and special events. Rules can be found at
www.festivaldeteatro.com.br. Last year, the Curitiba Festival had full houses, in some
cases in theaters with 2,000 seats. Then, 133 plays were presented in 11 days to a public
of 100,000 people.
Brazzil has prepared a special series of articles to show the story and the
vitality of the Brazilian theatrical scene. In the famous movie The Third Man with
Orson Welles, his character looks down over Vienna from a Ferris wheel and says to his
companion (and I paraphrase): "Germany has gone through wars, plagues, and
pestilence, and they created Beethoven, Bach and other great art. Switzerland has had a
thousand years of peace and harmony, and what have they created? The cuckoo clock!"
Great art is often created through suffering and adversity. And it is thus with Brazil,
which in her relatively short existence has experienced so much turmoil. All one has to do
is look at the arts of Brazil, and one will be struck by the richness in her culture, much
of it borne out of torture, slavery, and wars. Complacency and happiness are not conducive
to creativity—adversity is. This article will look at theater in Brazil, an
ever-growing and evolving, living creature and the social and political ills that were the
basis for the great, creative minds that shaped it.
In the Beginning
It is rare that a country can claim to have been founded with the existence of theater,
but in the case of Brazil, this is the case. Generally, in other cultures, theater has
evolved with the development of the fabric of their society, but the Portuguese brought
their theater with them and made it part of their New World, unlike a country like the
United States, founded by puritans to whom theater was a diversion and thus a thing of
sin. And then, after it was brought to Brazil as a "finished package," it
immediately started evolving with the influence of Indians and later Africans.
It is a long and interesting story, well worth looking at. Theater literally arrived in
Brazil with the first ships bringing colonists, and with the new arrivals came those
attributes, which depicted the baroque spirit as well as the religious conflicts of the
period. Little importance was given to the literary script. The audience was partial to
the staging, theatrics, special stage effects and the Faustian overtones.
The first Jesuit mission arrived in Brazil in 1549 led by Manuel da Nóbrega, at the
request of Dom João III. The first step the Jesuits took was to unite the natives in
permanent settlements. Once they had established villages, the priest could effect a
separation of the pagan elements from Christian beliefs. The mission priests were adept at
taking advantage of the Indians' natural attributes. They began by using music and little
by little exchanged the native beat and instruments for more "civilized" songs
and instruments.
The Jesuits, with the intuit to catechize the Indians, brought not just the new
religion, Catholicism, but also a different culture, in which was included literature and
theater.
Allied with the festive rituals and dances of the indigenous population, the first form
of theater known by the Brazilians, was that of the Portuguese, which had a pedagogic
character based on the Bible. In that era, the person primarily responsible for teaching
about theater, as well as the authorship of plays, was Father Anchieta.
The truly national theater only came to establish itself halfway through the XIX
century, when the romanticism had its start. Martins Pena was one of those responsible for
that, through his costume comedies. Other highlighted names from that time were, the
dramatist Artur Azevedo, the actor and theatrical impresario, João Caetano and, in
literature, the writer Machado de Assis.
The Jesuit Theater
During the first years of colonization, the fathers of the Companhia de Jesus, the
Jesuits, who came to Brazil, had as their main purpose the catechization of the Indians.
They found in the Brazilian tribes a natural inclination for music, dance, and oratory,
or rather positive tendencies toward the development of theater, which went on to be used
as an instrument of "civilization" and of religious education, in addition to
diversion. The theater, by the fascination of the representative image, was much more
effective than a sermon, for example.
The first plays, thus, were written by the Jesuits, who made use of elements of the
indigenous culture, from the character of "sacred," which the Indians had
already absorbed into their culture, to the Indians talking about the things they knew.
Mixed into those elements were the dogmas of the Catholic Church, in order that the
Jesuits not lose their objective—catechism.
The plays were written in Tupi-Guarani, Portuguese, or English, a practice that went on
until 1584, when Latin "arrived." In those plays the characters were saints,
demons, emperors, and from time to time, just represented symbolism, such as love or fear
of God. With the catechism, the theater ended up becoming obligatory material for students
of the humanities in the Jesuit colleges. In the meantime, female characters were
prohibited, except for saints, to avoid certain "excitement" in the young
people.
The actors of that era were domesticated Indians, the future padres (priests),
the whites and those of mixed parentage. All were amateurs, who improvised in the plays
presented in the churches, on the plazas, and in the schools. The name of the best known
author of the time was Father Anchieta. He was the author of the Auto de Pregação
Universal, Liturgical Rubric of Universal Prayer, written between 1567 and 1570 and
represented in diverse locales of Brazil, for several years.
Another rubric by Anchieta is of the Feast of São Lourenço, also known as the Mystery
of Jesus. The sacramental writings, which contained dramatic characteristics, were
preferred to the comedies and tragedies, because it was in those that the characteristics
of the catechism were included. They always had a religious, moral, and didactic basis and
were replete of allegoric personages. Being thus, comedies and tragedies were poorly
represented.
In addition to liturgical rubrics, another "theatrical style" introduced by
the Jesuits, was the nativity scene, which went on to be incorporated in the folkloric and
pastoral festivals. At this time all the plays presented had the character of catechism of
the Jesuit Theater. According to J.Galante de Sousa, in his book O Teatro no Brasil, The
Theater in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, 1960, first volume) "The Jesuit Theater was, in
reality, theater of oratory; it sought to move in order to persuade; tried to persuade in
order to educate." These are some of those "educational plays:"
Diálogo, 1573, Olinda and Bahia
Égloga Pastoril, 1574 and 1576, Olinda
História do Rico Avarento and Lázaro Pobre, 1575, Olinda
Auto, Liturgical rubric, 1578, Pernambuco
Auto do Crisma, confirmation, 1578, Rio de Janeiro
Tragicomédia, 1581, Bahia
Auto Pastoril, Pastoral Rubric, 1584, Aldeia do Espírito Santo
Diálogo, 1584, Pernambuco
Auto das Onze Mil Virgens, Rubric of Eleven Thousand Virgins, 1583 and 1584,
Bahia
Diálogo da Ave-Maria, 1584, Capitania do Espírito Santo
Auto de São Sebastião, 1585, Rio de Janeiro
Auto de São Lourenço, 1586, Niterói (Village of São Lourenço). Also known
as Na Festa de São Lourenço or Mistério de Jesus
Auto da Vila da Vitória, Rubric of the city of Vitória, 1586, Espírito Santo,
also known as Auto de São Maurício
Diálogo de Guarapari, 1587, village of Capitania do Espírito Santo
História de Assuero, 1589, Bahia
XVII Century
In the XVII century, the representations of plays written by Jesuits—at least
those with the clear finality of catechism—began to be increasingly scarce.
This period, in which the missionary work was already practically consolidated, is also
called the Decline of the Theater of the Jesuits. Meanwhile, other types of theatrical
activities were also scarce, that is to say that this century was a time of crisis. The
stage directions existed, even if they were hindered or inspired by the struggles of the
era, such as the struggle against the Dutch. But they depended on occasions like religious
or secular festivals in order to be realized.
Of the plays directed during that period, the highlight should be on the comedies
presented at the events of the acclamation of Dom João IV, in 1641, and the productions
promoted by the Franciscans of the Convento de Santo Antônio, in Rio de Janeiro, with the
objective of entertaining the community. Furthermore, theatrical representations were
realized for the installation of the Província Franciscana da Imaculada Conceição,
Franciscan Province of the Immaculate Conception, in 1678, in Rio.
Something one could point out in this century is the repercussion of the Spanish
theater in Brazil as well as the existence of a name—connected to the
theater—Manuel Botelho de Oliveira (Bahia 1636-1711). He was the first Brazilian poet
to have his works published, having written two comedies in Spanish, Hay Amigo para
Amigo e Amor (There is Friend for Friend and Love), and Engaños y Celos (Deceit
and Jealousy). These are some of the plays presented in the XVII century:
- Drama, 1620, Bahia
- Diálogo, 1626, Maranhão, and 1688 in Bahia
- Comédia, 1641 in Rio de Janeiro, in the same year in Recife, where it was
presented in French, and later in 1677, in Maranhão (as part of the commemorative events
of the acclamation of Dom João IV.
- Liturgical Rubric by São Francisco Xavier, 1668, in Maranhão.
XVIII Century
It was only in the second half of the XVIII century that the theatrical plays became
presented with some frequency. Stages and platforms, mounted in public town squares were
the locales for the presentations. It was like that with churches and, from time to time,
the palace of some governor. In that era, the educational characteristic of the theater
was strong. And an activity, so instructive, ended up deserving to be presented at locales
made for the plays: the so-called Casas de Ópera, Opera Houses, or Casas de Comédia,
Comedy Houses, which started to spread around the country.
In Minas Gerais, during the "gold cycle," Portuguese actors visited Vila
Rica. The only preserved local play is O Parnaso Obsequioso, The Obsequious
Parnassus by Claudio Manuel da Costa, written in the governor's honor. Following the
establishment of the houses "of theater," the first theater companies emerged.
The actors were contracted to do a determined number of presentations in the Opera Houses,
during a whole year, or only for a few months. Being thus, with established locations and
casts, the theatrical activity of the XVIII century began being more continuous than in
past eras.
In the XVIII century and beginning of the XIX, the actors were members of lower
classes, the majority being mulattos. There was a prejudice against the activity, and the
appearance of women in the casts ended up being prohibited. In that form, it was the men
themselves, who played the feminine roles, and came to be known as
"transvestites." Even when the presence of actresses was already
"liberated," the bad reputation of the class of artists kept women of society
away from the stages.
As for the repertoire, some of the highlights were the great foreign influences in the
Brazilian theater of that era. Among the names most quoted were Molière, Voltaire,
Maffei, Goldone, and Metastásio. In spite of the major foreign influence, some national
names also deserve to be remembered. These are Luís Alves Pinto, who wrote the comedy in
verse, Amor mal Correspondido, Love barely Requited; Alexandre de Gusmão, who
translated the French comedy O Marido Confundido, The Confused Husband; Cláudio
Manuel da Costa, who wrote O Parnaso Obsequioso and other poems presented in the
whole country, and Inácio José de Alvarenga Peixoto, author of the drama Enéias no
Lácio.
Another name worth mentioning is the dramatist Antonio José da Silva. However, since
he lived in Portugal much of his life, he is not considered a truly Brazilian actor. In
Rio de Janeiro, Father Ventura produced the "operas"—actually comedies
intermixed with the songs of Portuguese Antonio José (the Jew) da Silva, Guerras do
Alecrim, Wars of the Alecrim, and Mangerona. The Manuel Luís Theater imported
Portuguese and Spanish spectacles. During festivals, amateur groups staged popular plays
in the open air. After Father Ventura's theater was destroyed by fire in 1769 and Manuel
Luís' Theater closed, Dom João VI in 1810 built the Teatro Real de São João, where the
Portuguese actors continued acting. This theater still exists, in Rio, under the name
João Caetano.
1808-1838—Time of Transition
The arrival of the royal family in Brazil in 1808 brought with it a series of
improvements to the country. One of those was directed at the theater. Dom João VI, in a
decree of 28th of May, 1810, recognized the necessity of the construction of
"decent theaters." In truth, the decree represented a stimulus toward the
inauguration of several theaters. The theatrical companies through turns of singing and/or
dance, came to look after the theaters—bringing with them an audience, steadily
growing. The first of these, truly Brazilian, made its debut in 1833, in Niterói, under
the leadership of João Caetano, with the drama O Príncipe Amante da Liberdade, The
Prince Lover of Liberty or A Independência da Escócia, The Independence of
Scotland. A consequence of the stability, which the dramatic companies were gaining, was
the growth, at the same time, of amateur theater.
The agitation, which preceded the Independence of Brazil, was reflected in the theater.
The audiences were very aggressive, taking advantage of the productions to promote
manifestations, for the right to utter cries in favor of the Republic. Meanwhile, this
whole "mess" represented a preparation of the spirit of the people, and also of
the theater, for the existence of a free nation. These were the origins of the foundation
of the theater—and of a life—really national. Furthermore, in consequence of the
nationalism exacerbated by the public, the foreign actors began to be replaced by
nationals.
Contrary to this picture, respect got the better of the public when Dom Pedro was
present in the theater (a fact that happened in times and places which experienced
"normal" conditions, i.e., where and when there was not this kind of
manifestation.) On these occasions, it was more interesting to admire the spectators,
principally the ladies—richly dressed—than the actors. In addition to luxury,
one might note the prejudice against the Negroes, who did not attend the theaters.
Already, the actors were almost all mulattos, but covered their faces in white and red
make-up.
Romantic Era—1838-1855
Since independence in 1822, an exacerbated nationalist sentiment took over the cultural
manifestations. This nationalist spirit also touched the theater. In the meantime, the
Brazilian dramatic literature was still lackluster and depended on isolated initiatives.
Many plays, from 1838, were influenced by the Romanticism, a literary movement, en vogue
at that time.
The romantic writer Joaquim Manuel de Macedo stood out with some myths of the innate
feeling of nationality of that time: the myth of the territorial grandeur of Brazil, of
the opulence of the nature of the country, of the equality of all Brazilians, of the
hospitality of the people, among others. These myths orientated, to a great degree, the
romantic artists of this period.
The tragedy Antônio José or O Poeta e a Inquisição, The Poet and the
Inquisition, written by Gonçalves de Magalhães (1811-1882) and produced on stage by
João Caetano (1808-1863) on March 13 1838, in the Teatro Constitucional Fluminense, was
the first step toward the implantation of theater considered Brazilian. The same year, on
the 4th of October, for the first time, O Juiz de Paz da Roça, The
Country Justice of the Peace by Martins Pena (1815-1848) was produced. This also happened
at the Teatro Constitucional Fluminense by the same company of João Caetano. The play was
the initial kick toward the consolidation of comedy as the preferred genre by the public.
The plays by Martins Pena were part of Romanticism and therefore were well received by
the public, tired of the classical formality of the past. The author is considered the
founder of the national theater, by the quantity—in almost ten years wrote 28
plays—and the quality of his production. He produced a series of farces and comedies,
happy satires of the day's society, many of them presented by actor João Caetano,
responsible for abolishing the Portuguese accent in the medium of theater. His work, by
the popularity it attained, was very important to the consolidation of the theater of
Brazil. Other names of importance of that time were writers Machado de Assis and José de
Alencar.
The following is a passage of The Country Justice of the Peace by Martins
Pena:
José: Adeus, minha Aninha! (tenta abraçá-la) Aninha: Fique quieto. Não
gosto desses brinquedos. Eu quero casar-me com o Senhor, mas não quero que me abraces
antes de casarmos. Ora diga-me, Concluiu a venda do bananal que seu pai lhe deixou?
José: Concluí!
Aninha: Ah! Então se o senhor agora tem dinheiro… por que não me pede a meu
pai?
José: Dinheiro? Nem vintém!
Aninha: Nem vintém? Então o que fez do dinheiro? É assim que me ama?!!
|
José: Goodbye, my Aninha! (tries to embrace her) Aninha: Be quiet. I don't like those
games. I want to marry you, but I don't want you to embrace me before we marry. Well tell
me, did you conclude the sale of the banana business that your father left you?
José: It's concluded.
Aninha: Ah! Then if you now have money…., why don't you talk to my father?
José: Money? Not even a penny!
Aninha: Not even a penny? Then what did you do with the money? Is that how you love
me?!!
|
Realism—Second Half of XIX Century
The development of the theater happened when Brazilian slaves were liberated in
Nigeria, in 1880, and founded the first Brazilian dramatic company, but it was only in
1900 that the theater was established. Although it had faced the strong political crises
of the country, it succeeded in the struggle toward independence.
The Realism in the National Drama may be subdivided into two periods: the first, from
1855—when the impresario Joaquim Heliodoro established his company—until 1884
with the presentation of O Mandarim, The Mandarin, by Artur Azevedo, who
consolidated the genre of revues and the serious drama. The second period goes from 1884
until the XX century, when the operetta and the revue are the preferred genres among the
public.
This first phase does not end in a naturalist theater. With the exception of one or
another attempt, the dramatic literature did not accompany naturalism because of the
preference of the public toward "vaudeville," revue, and parody.
The renovation of the Brazilian theater, with the consolidation of comedy as the
preferred genre, began when Joaquim Heliodoro Gomes dos Santos put together his theater, O
Ginásio Dramático, in 1855. That new space had as rehearsal leader and director the
Frenchman Emílio Doux, who brought the most modern plays of the era from France. The
realist theater imported from France introduced a social theme, or rather the social
questions most relevant to the moment were discussed in those dramas. It was theater of
social thesis and psychological analysis.
A name of great importance to the theater of this phase is the playwright Artur Azevedo
(1855-1908). According to J. Galante de Souza (O Teatro no Brasil, vol.1), Artur
Azevedo "was more applauded in his scenery, in his revues written without artistic
worry, as when he wrote serious drama. His talent was one of improvisation, easy, natural
but without breathing space for compositions, which would demand maturity, and for
artistic undertakings with a great scope."
XX Century
Brazilian theater flourished in the 30's with the production of texts by national
authors. Until then, the stages of the major theaters produced Italian and German operas
and exhibited established names, such as Isadora Duncan, Sara Bernhardt and the lyric
tenor Enrico Caruso, among others. The splendor of the great stages coincided with the
cycle of rubber in Amazônia at the beginning of the XX century. Theatrical companies from
London and Paris had long seasons in the principal capitals of the region—Belém in
Pará, and Manaus in Amazonas, where splendid theaters were financed by the importation of
products on a large scale.
Brazilian theater went through difficult moments during the dictatorship. Between 1937
and 1945, were it not for populist ideology, which remained active by means of the genre
of the revue, it would have been extinguished. Then emerged the first stable companies of
the country, with names like Procópio Ferreira, Jaime Costa, Odilon de Azevedo, among
others. Another important period was when Paschoal Carlos Magno founded the Teatro do
Estudante do Brazil, The Student Theater of Brazil, in 1938. This was the start of an
emergence of experimental theater companies, which extend for many years, marking the
introduction of a foreign model for the theater of the country, establishing at that time
the principle of modern theater production in Brazil.
The modern Brazilian theater arrives at the stages in the 40's with the Companhia
Teatro Brasileiro de Comédia, TBC, the major school of art in the country, responsible
for the professionalism of acting in the 50's and by the formation of a generation of
actors, directors, stage directors and playwrights. The play Vestido de Noiva, The
Wedding Dress, of 1943, revolutionized the lingo of the national theater. The author,
whose works are classified as psychological and tragic, was the playwright, novelist, and
journalist, Nelson Rodrigues (1912-1980). The play is considered a formal and thematic
break, the beginning of modern theater. Controversial, the work went on for decades
dividing public and critics and confronting the official censors for rebelling against the
hypocrisy of the family, of race relations, and of political subservience.
In 1948, Italian Franco Zampari founded the Teatro Brasileiro de Comédia (TBC),
Brazilian Theater of Comedy, a company, which produced bourgeois theater for the
bourgeoisie, importing techniques and repertoire, with tendencies toward esthetic culture.
In 1957, the Teatro de Arena de São Paulo was founded, an entrance door for many amateurs
into professional theater, who in the following years became true personalities in the
artistic world.
With the military coup in 1964, the difficulties were augmented for directors and
actors of the theater. The actions of the censors made many artists abandon the stages and
seek exile in other countries. It remained for future generations to keep the established
roots alive and set a course toward a new style of theater, which was about to emerge.
The military coup generated the theater of challenge, involving the engagement of
expressive sections of the population, principally students. It is the so-called Arena and
Workshop theaters that take the dramatic art to the people. The texts were directed under
the yoke of censorship. Theatrical plays were un-shelved starting in 1985 with the slow
re-democratization of the country.
The XX century was a time for Brazilian theater to mature. In the face of cultural
transformations that happened since the industrial revolution, the comedies and
vaudevilles, which so marked the XIX century and the first decades of the twentieth gave
way to theater that returned to the cultural context of Brazil and to social denouncement
and political challenge. The seed for this theater was planted by the
Modernismo—artistic movement of the avant-garde, which proposed the negation of the
classic model—initiated in Brazil during the Semana de Arte Moderna, Modern Art Week,
of 1922, and which had at its forefront writers Oswald and Mário de Andrade.
The politically committed theater reached its peak in the 60's with the Centro Popular
de Cultura and in the 70's as a trench of resistance against the military dictatorship.
Outstanding in this period, among others, were Arena conta Zumbi by Gianfrancesco
Guarnieri and Edu Lobo, the show Opinião, by Oduvaldo Vianna Filho and Roda
Viva by Chico Buarque de Hollanda.
Those montages opened the path to similar plays such as Liberdade, Liberdade by
Millôr Fernandes and Arena conta Tiradentes. Among other authors, who stood out in
that era were also Dias Gomes, Antônio Callado, and Ferreira Gullar, who worked under the
yoke of strong government censorship, which prohibited the production of hundreds of plays
and persecuted their authors.
At the end of the 60's, a new impulse was given to drama of a realistic character, and
somewhat tragic, starting with the work by Plínio Marcos, Navalha na carne, Razor
in the Flesh; Dois Perdidos numa Noite Suja, Two Lost in a Nasty Night. Much
censored, also, betting on popular vocabulary and on the naked and raw portrait of those
who are marginalized, the author brought to the stage a world where the virtues of the
romantic hero don't exist, contributing thus to the definitive defeat of hypocrisy and
disengagement with the problems of the country.
To be continued on our next issue.
Kirsten Weinoldt was born in Denmark and came to the U.S. in 1969. She
fell in love with Brazil after seeing Black Orpheus many years ago and has lived
immersed in Brazilian culture ever since. Her e-mail: kwracing@erols.com
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