Cultural appropriation: Brazilian stage productions of samuel beckett's waiting for godot

Abstract

The present article aims at discussing, first and briefly, the experimental features Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) imprinted in Waiting for Godot (1948-1949), among them the implosion of dramatic elements and the inscription of detailed performance instructions within the text itself, thus creating a performance model for which he used to demand respect. Thereupon, after addressing the 1955 first incursion of Godot in Brazil, a historical panorama of some outstanding stage productions of the play will be provided, mainly in terms of conceptualization and critical reception, in the light of theoretical perspectives by Oswald de Andrade, José Roberto O'Shea, Patrice Pavis, Peter Burke, among others.