Project provides unpublished theater plays on podcast

The first product of the Sbat em Cena – Contains Pieces project: a cycle of pieces in audio theater format has just been launched and initially includes unpublished works in podcast format (audio content available on the internet). The works are by the authors Julia Spadaccini (Doce Oceano) and Daniela Pereira de Carvalho (Behaviour), in addition to a rare text by Augusto Boal (Laio se Matou).

The project is the result of a partnership between the Brazilian Society of Theater Authors (Sbat) and the Laboratory of Aesthetics and Politics (Lep), of the Graduate Program in Performing Arts at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (PPGAC/UFRJ). The objective is the revitalization and redefinition of the entity. Created 106 years ago, Sbat acts in defense of the copyright of theatrical writers, as well as translators, audiovisual scriptwriters, general literature authors, stage directors, actors, set designers, musical directors, choreographers and other creators of the performing and dramatic arts of All country.

Sbat’s provisional coordinator, Gillray Coutinho said that the project, which has just been launched based on parliamentary amendments, will continue.

One of the playwrights who most contributed to the creation of a genuinely Brazilian and Latin American theater, Augusto Boal was also the founder of the Theater of the Oppressed, which combines this art with social action, whose techniques spread throughout the world in the last three decades of the 20th century. His play Laio se Matou, written in 1952 for Teatro Experimental do Negro, transposes the Greek story of Oedipus, by Sophocles, to a candomblé yard in Rio de Janeiro. Boal’s piece will be released this week.

The Lep researcher, creator and coordinator of the project, Alessandra Vannucci, highlighted, in an interview with Agência Brasil, that two unpublished plays have already been released in audio theater format, which have not yet been staged. The pieces were selected from a national call made by Sbat for their authors to participate in the project, which aims to revitalize the entity, including several generations of authors and new languages.

The texts are written for the theater, but now translated into sound format, recorded, as an audiobook. “It’s another language, but with a code already frequented by Brazilian dramaturgy, which had a very rich production in radio theater format in the 40’s and 50’s. The spectator is invited to the listening experience”, explained Alessandra Vannucci.

The plays were adapted for the audio theater format by the playwright and researcher Tatá Oliveira and directed by the actor, director and researcher Bruce Gomlevsky, who also participate as actors, alongside a cast made up of students from the School of Communication (ECO) at UFRJ. All creative functions (production, interpretation, graphic creation, editing) were carried out by the team of Lep scholarship students, selected among quota students.

New experiences
It is the first time that Julia Spadaccini and Daniela Pereira de Carvalho have texts assembled in a podcast. Doce Oceano is the first piece by Contains-Parts to be released on the Spotify platform. Then, Comportamento was released and, this week, it will be the turn of the work Laio se killed, by Augusto Boal. The audio pieces can be heard in streaming and are also available on the Sbat website.

Alessandra Vannucci informed that the Contains parts product will continue. The second cycle will probably open next month, with the podcast launch of the unreleased play Desaparecida, authored by the UFRJ researcher and playwright, an Italian who has been working in Brazil for 20 years. “Sbat asked me to do this reading of the play. And it will involve a lot of people, actors from São Paulo as well, in addition to UFRJ students”. The piece includes testimonials from women arrested during the military dictatorship in Brazil.

Saturday in Scene
The Sbat em Cena project was made possible through parliamentary amendments intended by federal deputies Chico D’Angelo (PDT-RJ), Jandira Feghali (PCdoB-RJ) and Benedita da Silva (PT-RJ). The project is divided into two parts. The first aims at redefining the entity, including actions that are a tradition of the Society – the re-edition of the Sbat Magazine and readings in podcasts, as in the case of Contains Pieces. Gillray Coutinho highlighted that Sbat has a tradition of promoting Brazilian theater and not only discussions about the sector, but also about the plays themselves, reading circles, courses, workshops. “We need to promote our authors, Brazilian theater, which has very special characteristics,” he said.

The second part seeks to revitalize the Sbat, with the technological update of service, modernization and strengthening of the institution. Among the actions are the restoration and preservation of the collection, the holding of a face-to-face congress next June at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Unirio), the development of collection tools and the distribution of copyrights.

The project also includes restructuring and improvement activities in the administrative, financial and communication systems, with the aim of improving Sbat’s contact with members, in addition to bringing it closer to new audiences.

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