Contracultura - arte e política no teatro brasileiro de 1970 a 1976

Abstract

This research analyzes four theatrical experiences produced in Brazil in the context of counterculture between the years 1970 and 1976. Innovative experiences within the framework of Brazilian production during the peak years of dictatorial repression, first the staging of the non-verbal show O Terceiro Demônio (1970), a collective creation by the TUCA Group from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo; the performances developed by the US American group Living Theater in the cities of São Paulo and Ouro Preto, as part of the cycle of street performances entitled O Legado de Caim (1970–1971); the performance/show/te-ato Gracias, Señor (1971) created by Teatro Oficina; and the show Gente Computada Como Você(1973–1976) along with its variations, produced by the group Dzi Croquettes. As a tool for understanding these experiences, the concept of counterculture is thought of as bringing different sociological and historical approaches, understanding this moment in its multiple perspectives in this troubled moment in Brazilian life. The aesthetics produced during this period have a direct relationship with the demonstrations and protests carried out during the 1960s, especially the events of May 1968 in Paris, the pacifist mobilizations in the USA, and the confrontations against the military dictatorship in Brazil. In this context, the research considers the relations between counterculture and the new international left and the paths proposed by the Brazilian left, especially its relationship with the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), the politics of identities, and the strategies undertaken by artists of the period against censorship. Genetic criticism is used as a methodology in the reconstruction and analysis of the events and procedures of theater groups, having been carried out based on documents and academic studies. As a theoretical contribution to the interpretation of these processes, the ideas of Sartrean existentialism, the concepts of cultural identity and revolutionary potential as proposed by Stuart Hall (1932-2014) are brought forward; the anthropophagy of Oswald de Andrade (1890-1954); and the performance studies of Victor Turner (1920-1983), Richard Schechner (1934) and other analysts of cultural performances. The theater of the period is analyzed from the perspective of the performative turn of the 1960s, especially in the studies of art as an event by Erika Fischer-Lichte (1943), as well as its relationship with neoconcretist ideas in Brazil. The research aims to understand, within this multifaceted counterculture, the production of iconic shows and performances that sought to break the boundaries between stage and audience, a new relationship between art and public, and the production of moments that led artists and audiences to action. With strategies such as performative contagion, androgyny, non-verbal theater, popular theater and te-ato, these collectives aimed to produce actions of social transformation and political impact in the communities with which they had contact