| This is the first research project fully dedicated to the life and work of Brazilian playwright Luis Carlos Goes. Its main purpose is to introduce to the academic world the life and work of this contemporary artist whose theater, besides reflecting the chaos, the aggression and the absurdity of human relations, also denounces the violence camouflaged by political, economic, and social structures within Brazilian society. This work traces the evolution of Goes' theater from a first phase, up to the end of the 1980's and more connected to the Teatro Besteirol, to his most recent works in which absurd relations and reactions emerge from the conflicts faced by his characters.; Besides tracing the evolution and characteristics of the playwright's theater, I also study the elements of the Theater of the Absurd and the teatro absurdista in Latin America present in five of Goes' texts. The Theater of the Absurd was one of the most important dramatic tendencies in the second half of the last century. I follow the definition of the Theater of the Absurd as given by Martin Esslin, a pioneer in the systematic studies on this subject. As a primary theoretical source I use his book The Theater of the Absurd (1961), since along with defining and characterizing the genre, he also analyzes plays by Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, and Edward Albee. These authors' works are linked by the same thematic concern, i.e. the philosophy of the absurd in vogue in the 1950s and 60s.; As in mass media, which plays a direct role in exposing violence and influencing social opinion in the world today, theater can be a means for raising people's consciousness and increasing public demands for change. In that light, Goes' work goes beyond mere entertainment. It can be interpreted as a powerful vehicle that exposes the negative aspects of human behavior. While provoking the spectator to reflect upon and better understand different absurdist contexts. |
