Theatre of the Oppressed

First Stage

The story of the Arena Theater’s use of realist texts began with the Teatro Brasileiro de Comedia (TBC), a theater that presented European theater for wealthy audiences. At first, the theater was highly successful, but soon the separation between what the actors were presenting and what the middle class in Brazil was experiencing became too great. The Arena Theater responded by presenting Brazilian actors performing in their own languages. However, the theater found it difficult to find material for these performances. Many Brazilian authors in the 1950s were preoccupied with classical forms and themes. Wanting to present a different style of theater that would break from Western influence, the Arena Theater began using young Brazilian actors to write plays based on realistic stories.

The actors worked together to develop their skills as playwrights and to reframe narratives for Brazilian topics that included protest strikes and the living conditions of rail workers. The Mandrake was just one play that was rewritten and performed. In the version presented at the Arena Theater, the protagonist is not Callimaco. Instead, the story centers on Lucrezia, who is both oppressed (kept locked in a room) and exploited.