The Comparative Theatre approach in the analysis of three plays about the death of Vladimir Herzog

• Grant number: 25/19198-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: February 01, 2026
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Theatre
• Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Ferreira Cardoso Ribeiro Azevedo
• Grantee: Marco Antonio Pedra da Silva
• Supervisor: Jorge Adrian Dubatti
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Argentina
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/04094-4 - The death of Vladimir Herzog in the plays Ponto de Partida (1976), Patética (1976) and Fábrica de Chocolate (1979), BP.MS

Abstract

This internship at the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (FILO) of the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) aims to enhance the comparative analysis of three brazilian plays that reference the assassination of journalist Vladimir Herzog, through the study of Comparative Theatre, a research methodology systematized by professor Jorge Dubatti. The plays in question are Ponto de Partida (1976), written by Gianfrancesco Guarnieri; Patética (1976), written by João Chaves Netto; and Fábrica de Chocolate (1979), written by Mário Prata. The analysis of these plays is the focus of a master's research project underway since 2024 in the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Cênicas (PPGAC) at the Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA) of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Based on the principles of Comparative Theatre, the project will refine the analysis of the plays in relation to the political context in which they were created - São Paulo in the 1970s, during the military dictatorship. Due to the diversity of theatrical languages the plays employ - the first being epic-narrative; the second circus-inspired; and the third more naturalistic - they offer a rich case study for investigating intraterritoriality in Comparative Theatre, analyzing both differences and similarities among works produced in similar contexts. During the internship, the scholarship recipient will take courses at UBA as recommended by the internship supervisor and will write a chapter of their dissertation dedicated to comparing the three plays.