Cities, Stages and Audiences: Rio De Janeiro and São Paulo in Two Acts

Abstract

The article analyses the theatrical scene in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo at two significant moments of the cultural and urban history of the two cities. The first traces back to the end of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century, when theatre enabled the symbolic translation of the hierarchies structuring social life in Rio de Janeiro's belle époque. The second moment, spanning the 1940s and 1950s, follows the process of synchronization between São Paulo's drama scene and the European stages. This comparative approach comprises a sociological experiment. On one hand, it attempts to observe the not always linear movement of absorption and expansion of this art (acting) in urban environments pushed by the investment in culture as a means and substrate for the crystallization of diverse elements of the modernity then evolving. On the other, it attempts to show the transformations of gender relations in the acting milieu by comparing two trajectories: Chiquinha Gonzaga (1847-1935) and Cacilda Becker (1921-1969).