ABSTRACT
The article presents some trajectories of Brazilian black theaters, focusing on São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, between the civilmilitary dictatorship in the 1970s and the first decade of the 2000s. It analyzes the centrality of the articulation between culture and politics that made possible the contemporary expansion of these groups. During this period, while the reorganization of black movements paved the way to influence the policies of the Brazilian State and achieved advances in the 1988 Constitution, black theaters underwent transformations and acted in cultural policies, conquering greater material, aesthetic and technical possibilities. However, they also faced the persistent obstacles imposed by racism in the country. Methodologically it is based on the related bibliography and the Revista Legítima Defesa, a magazine edited by the São Paulo black theater group Cia. Os Crespos, one of the authors’ research partners.
KEYWORDS:
Black theaters; black movements; democratic transition in Brazil; cultural politics