1. Staging the Collapse

The following pages will discuss the artistic process that led to the creation of the final part of a trilogy with which Cia de Teatro Acidental investigated the problematic developments in recent Brazilian politics now identifiable as the rise of neofascism. This trilogy, however, was not initially created with that intent—when we started, we could not predict the historical trajectory our country would take (at least not consciously; perhaps through our work we were able to perceive something that we did not know, did not yet want to admit). It only became a triad of plays when we decided the last part's theme. Hence, we must begin by briefly narrating this previous trajectory, evoking the assumptions and issues that motivated us to rewrite Brecht's The Measures Taken.

We must go back to mid-2013. The situation was chaotic and exciting on several levels. Those were the “June Days,” mass mobilizations which reached over five hundred Brazilian cities and were described as the first insurrection or popular uprising of truly national proportions in our country, with almost 90% of the population's support at one point. Triggered by a twenty-cent increase in bus and subway tickets, the protests later included the denunciation of police brutality (in response to the first demonstrations). With the resulting increase in participation, new themes emerged, such as corruption and the upcoming World Cup. This expansion also brought a dilution of the markedly leftist character the protests first had and fostered the growth of the far right in the following years.

Despite still lively enthusiasm for such stirrings, the threat of fascism seemed to us the most urgent topic to be investigated on stage. It also fit perfectly with the play that we had been working on since the previous year (with no funding or clear prospects for a premiere, which is symptomatic of the cuts of cultural subsidies that were already underway): O beijo no asfalto (The Asphalt Kiss) by Nelson Rodrigues, the (self-proclaimed) reactionary playwright who inaugurated Brazil's theatrical modernism.