“A cara do povo do jeito que ela é”: o nacional-popular na peça Parai-bê-a-bá, de Paulo Pontes

Abstract

This dissertation consists of a documentary research pursuing the history of the show Paraí-bê-a-bḠperformed in 1968 by the group Teatro de Arena da Paraíba. It aims at analyzing how, through this play, Paulo Pontes, general coordinator of the process, sought to represent an image relating to the ―authentic man from Paraíba‖ via a collage of literary texts, economic data and speeches of notable fellow citizens who had achieved prominence in their areas. The theatrical text was analyzed through the perspective of the aesthetic-political national-popular project, following principles of the Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci, and from dialogue with the politically engaged theater of the post-64 Coup, such as the theatrical system develop by Augusto Boal, the Sistema Coringa (Joker System). For the purpose of source systematization, research was conducted into local periodicals in which reports, interviews, news and advertisement were published about the show in the year of 1968, as of its premiere. By the end of the research, a conclusion was drawn that through the play and its production process, Paulo Pontes succeeded in creating a show that was a success in terms of attendance and diminished the distance between the people and the theater, leading folk from Paraíba to playhouses along the state, both in the audience as on the stage.