Palcos políticos: Activist theater in contemporary São Paulo, Brazil

Following a brief history of activist and political theater in Brazil with a focus on São Paulo, this dissertation sets out to evaluate the current status of activist theater in that city. It has become a commonplace to affirm that theater in general is a powerful vehicle for social change and it is generally agreed that an engaged, creative theater existed in Brazil during the military dictatorship. However, it is widely held by academics and observers of Brazilian theater that meaningful sociopolitically engaged dramatic production ceased with the end of the military dictatorship in 1985. This dissertation contends that recent years have seen significant growth in dynamic, engagé theater in São Paulo. Brazil occupies a special place with regard to "activist" theater due to the presence of Augusto Boal, who is probably second only to Bertolt Brecht in terms of his recognition as a leader in popular, engaged theater. In chapter one of this dissertation, following a theoretical discussion of activist theater with a focus on Brazil, I take a detailed look at how Boal and Brecht interact and how their efforts fit into the broader context of theater history. Chapters two and three each take a detailed look at one particular activist theater troupe. The focus of chapter two is Folias d'Arte and its production of Shakespeare's Othello. Folias is a fairly new theatrical group, yet it has developed significant interactions with other theater practitioners in São Paulo and has been instrumental in the organization and promotion of activist theater citywide. Chapter three deals with Teatro União e Olho Vivo (TUOV) and its staging of its own historically based play, João Cândido. TUOV is a much older and more established group, working in the poor, peripheral areas in the northern part of the city. Chapter four offers a more panoramic view of the current state of the overall contemporary activist theater scene in São Paulo, clearly showing that sociopolitically engaged theater is alive and well in that city.