Staging Political Scandals: Two Brazilian Adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Richard III

Abstract

Foregrounding the Brazilian sociopolitical context from 2003-2006, this essay analyses two productions of Shakespeare’s Richard III: Ricardo III, directed and adapted by Jô Soares, and Ricardo III, directed by Roberto Lage and adapted by Celso Frateschi. Both productions were staged in São Paulo in 2006. From 2003 to 2006, Brazil went through rough times in terms of politics. Several scandals happened during President Lula’s government. The so-called Escândalo do Mensalão, Escândalo dos Bingos, and Escândalo dos Correios popped out in 2005 and 2006, drawing much attention from the press and the public at large. Starting from the premise that a theatrical production is inextricably connected with its context, and taking into account that two different stagings of one of Shakespeare’s most political plays were simultaneously performed in Brazil during a time of political scandals, the analysis aims at verifying whether and how each production constructed certain passages of the playtext to highlight the current Brazilian context, especially 3.2., in which citizens discuss the political condition of their country. The analysis of the scene appears to demonstrate that Soares’ Ricardo III makes explicit references to the current political context, whereas Frateschi and Lage’s Ricardo III seems to address broader social problems in Brazilian society, such as urban violence and the negative effects of capitalism.