The playing actor: in the context of the Street Theatre and the Cavalo Marinho

Author(s)

Ana Caldas Lewinsohn

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Artes
• Defense date: 2009-01-19

Examining board members

Eusébio Lobo da Silva; Suzi Frankl Sperber; Raimundo Oswald Cavalcante Barroso

• Advisor: Eusébio Lobo da Silva

Abstract

This thesis investigates the Street Theatre and the Cavalo Marinho ("Sea Horse"), a popular play from the "Zona da Mata" in the northern hinterland of the State of Pernambuco, Brazil. To conduct this study, field work was carried out in Condado city and other nearby small towns and villages. The main goal was to identify elements and distinctive features of the play-acting that can contribute to the Street Theatre actor's work. To this intent, the character of Mateus ("Matthew") was chosen as the central reference for this study and was observed and analysed in depth. As a case study of recreating aspects of the Cavalo Marinho in a theatre play, I describe the development of "Gaiola de Moscas" ("The Fly Cage"), a play based on a short story by Mia Couto, a writer from Moçambique, and created by the Peleja group. To contemplate the similarities, differences and exchanges between popular play and theatre, this study analyses the features of these two artistic modes. Based on this discourse, I elaborate the concept of "Ator Brincante" ("playing actor") which represents simultaneously the Cavalo Marinho player and the Street Theatre actor, combining stability and instability in a scenic condition where a codified repertoire is also constantly open to the unexpected. (AU)