Nelson Rodrigues, Praça Tiradentes station

Abstract

This article aims to point out unusual similarities between the play Viúva, porém honesta (1957), written by Nelson Rodrigues, and certain aesthetic conventions of the revue theater genre, emphasizing that between these two points lies the mediation of relevant aspects of the modernization process of Brazilian theater. The analytical journey seeks, in a first step, to revisit Nelson Rodrigues’ introduction to the theater - an event that, according to reports, was motivated by witnessing the success of a theatrical performance with similarities to a revue. Subsequently, critical assessments of this play made by a prominent critic like Sábato Magaldi are presented, which views Nelson Rodrigues’ creation as a minor point in the author’s dramaturgy. Furthermore, the article compiles statements from other theater critics that characterize how part of the intellectual class perceived the revue theater genre, which was generally looked down in the early decades of the 20th century. From there, this study seeks to highlight various elements of Nelson Rodrigues’ play that appear to resonate, in some way, with characteristic aspects of revue plays, as foreseen by genre scholars like Neyde Veneziano. With the assistance of these studies and specific analyses that have already positively viewed Viúva, porém honesta the aim is to comprehend the potent and unique space occupied by this work in Nelson Rodrigues’ dramatic corpus and how it aligns with its time, even anticipating successful trends in Brazilian theater of the 1960s.