From Meierhold to Kantor : a path for the investigation of the element of the grotesque as a scenic operator

• Grant number: 14/21933-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2015
• End date: December 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Theatre
• Principal Investigator: Maria Thais Lima Santos
• Grantee: Thaís Gomes Sodré
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project proposes to investigate the possible elements and characteristics of an artistic connection that bind the theatrical thought and production of the artists Vsevolod Meierhold (1874 - 1940) and Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990). The poetic and aesthetic principles shared will be analyzed through a dialogue between the scenic conceptions of the Russian director and the Polish director, respectively. Through the approach of the productions The Inspector General (1926) directed by Meierhold and The Dead Class (1975) by Kantor, will be highlighted the principle of the grotesque as a common scenic operator in both theatrical productions, articulating the levels of the actor's performance and of the sign in the mise-en-scène, among other elements and factors to be investigated. The analysis of the element of grotesque operating in such productions, as the precursor historical-artistic relations of this link, aims to create parameters to map more broadly the factors that define this artistic affiliation.