The POETICS OF VISUAL THEATER STUDIED BY UNESP DIDACTIC THEATER:
CONNECTIONS WITH PERFORMATIVE THEATER
Authors
Raphael Leon de Vasconcelos
UNESP
Igor Erbert
UNESP
Abstract
The Didactic Theater is an extension project of the São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP) that emerged in 1993. In 2008, Professor Wagner Cintra took over its coordination and the group began to investigate the language of Visual Theater being recognized as the only one in Brazil to have such a language as the main motto of his work. From its activities, the plays “O Rio”, “Paulicéia Desvairada”, “Judas: Piedade para os ratos” were produced and several workshops were organized with the aim of expanding the poetics of Visual Theater.
This type of theater seeks to move away from the idea of representation, which is quite common in drama. Etymologically, representation is to present something that is absent. The character in the drama does not have an incarnation of her own; it depends on an actress or an actor, who has a whole corporeality, so that it can exist beyond the letters on paper. The representation consists, then, in a human capacity, endowed with reasoning, to build the illusion of seeing something different.In Visual Theater, the object and matter are staged in all their integrity. There is no intention to make a representation, but to present them in their own image and form. Thus, objects are manipulated with the intention of forming contrasts and compositions like a canvas in motion. There is no pre-established story that is being told to viewers. The spectators themselves create meaning from the images that are formed. Therefore, a contemplative effect is established in which the public is invited to awaken its own theoretical framework to interpret what is actually happening (without scenic illusions) before its eyes.
Something that can be related to performance art, since there is also no representation, but a real, concrete experience. The present work intends to explore the connections between these two arts and discuss the artistic potential of Visual Theater.
KEYWORDS
Didactic Theater; Visual Theater; Performance
Author Biography
Igor Erbert, UNESP
Formado em Licenciatura em Arte Teatro pela Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP) e mestrando na linha de pesquisa Estética e Poéticas Cênicas (2022) pela mesma Universidade sob a orientação do Professor Doutor Wagner Cintra. Atuou em vários festivais no Brasil e exterior com os grupos Teatro Didático da UNESP e Teatro de Brancaleone. Com a Cia [Me]morando desenvolve pesquisas e estudos nas linguagens de contação de Histórias e pedagogia das máscaras, elaborando cenas, oficinas, espetáculos e performances cênicas.
