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

Authors

  • Camila Paula Camilotti Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
  • José Roberto O'Shea Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7968.2014v1n33p71

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.

Author Biographies

Camila Paula Camilotti, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Camilotti has a graduate degree in Portuguese and English Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics from Universidade Paranaense (2004), a master’s degree in English Literature and Linguistics from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (2010), and is currently a doctoral student in Translation Studies (PGET) at the Federal University Santa Catarina. Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil E-mail: camilapc5@gmail.com

José Roberto O'Shea, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Professor O’Shea has received a graduate degree from University of Texas (1977), a master’s degree in Literature from the American University (1981), and a doctor’s degree in English and North American Literature from the University of North Carolina (1989). He has conducted postdoctoral researches at the Shakespeare Institute - University of Birmingham (1997), the University of Exeter (2004), and again at the Shakespeare Institute (2013). He is a professor at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Email: oshea@cce.ufsc.br

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Published

2014-07-31

How to Cite

Camilotti, C. P., & O’Shea, J. R. (2014). Staging Political Scandals: Two Brazilian Adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Richard III. Cadernos De Tradução, 1(33), 71–96. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7968.2014v1n33p71