LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLISM OF THE PLAY BY AUGUSTO BOAL “THE TEMPEST”: A NEW READING OF THE CLASSICAL SUBJECT

Abstract

The article examines the play of the Brazilian playwriter and producer A. Boal “The Tempest” (1974), created within the debate about the philosophical and civilizational issues of “The Tempest” by Shakespeare and about the ways of theater development in Brazil. The main attention is paid to the interpretation of Shakespeare’s images, to the theatrical system of A. Boal, to the influence of B. Brecht’s theatrical aesthetics and to the linguo-stylistic ways of conveying the propaganda tasks put by A. Boal. One of the main particularities of the A. Boal’s system are the songs-commentaries, which are representing the point of view of the author. The article traces as well the evolution of the aesthetic principles founded on the Brazilian modernist dramaturgy of the 1930s, and examines the discussions of A. Boal with the Latin-American writers, such as R. Fernández Retamar (Cuba) and Aimé Césaire (Martinique), who proposed in 1960s-1970s the new interpretations of the symbolism and system of images of “The Tempest” by W. Shakespeare.