Actor training in Brazil: history and current trends

This article was provided by Brazilian actor, comedian, writer and director of theatre, film, and television Bemvindo Sequeira.

Although the first theatrical performance in Brazil took place as early as the 16th century, when Jesuit missionary Jose de Anchieta evangelised indigenous peoples through theatre, it was not until 1838 that the first Brazilian theatre play was staged. It was written by playwright Luiz Carlos Martins Pena and was called O Juiz de Paz na Roça (A Rural Justice of the Peace).

There was a need for actors to stage this play. Around 1850, the theatre worker, director and actor Joao Caetano became known in Rio de Janeiro, where he began staging works by Brazilian and foreign authors.

Joao Caetano pioneered a systematic approach to stage training in Brazil. In his book Lições Dramáticas (Fundamentals of Dramatic Art), he endeavoured to develop a method of acting.

The first Brazilian acting school, the Martins Pena Theatre School, was founded in Rio de Janeiro in 1908. However, in 1948, when refugees from Europe arrived in the country after World War II, the national theatre entered a new stage of development.

Polish director and scriptwriter Zbigniew Ziembinski, as well as Italian directors Gianni Ratto and Adolfo Celi, introduced the Stanislavsky system (a method of acting technique developed by the Russian theatre figure Konstantin Stanislavsky and based on experiencing the role and deep immersion in the image) into the work of actors at the Brazilian Comedy Theatre in Sao Paulo.

Today, Brazil has major centres for actor training, including schools of stage arts in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul and Brasilia, as well as federal universities.

Other prestigious acting schools worth mentioning include the Faculty of Arts of Dulcina de Moraes in Brasilia, the School of Dramatic Arts in Sao Paulo and private courses focused on training actors for television and film.

Thanks to quality education, Brazil can be proud of its actors, whose professionalism is comparable to that of international stars. This is evidenced by the number of international awards and nominations received by Brazilian artists.

However, the high level of acting in Brazil is not only the result of good education, but also of the country's cultural diversity.

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