The modernization of theatrical art in the 19th century in booklets for Portugal and Brazil

Abstract

The article analyses three pamphlets from the 19th-century collection Biblioteca do Povo e das Escolas, from the editorial perspective of a project promoting Instruction for Portuguese and Brazilians, published by editor David Corazzi. These pamphlets, related to the performing arts, are titled A Arte no Teatro (The Art of Theatre), Arte Dramática (Dramatic Art), and Manual do Ensaiador Dramático (The Dramatic Director’s Manual). The first two were written by an artist and set designer, Manoel de Macedo, and the third by a director and teacher, Augusto de Melo. Republished by the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) Press, in 2022, with organization and notes by Professor Walter Lima Torres Neto, and with prefaces by Portu­guese researcher, Guilherme Felipe and afterwords by Brazilian professors, these volumes open new possibilities for theatre historiography practices, exploring the inevitable exchanges between the stages of the two countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries.