A cena em documentos: estudos sobre a poética de Milo Rau

Abstract

This thesis proposes a study on Milo Rau’s work, between 2009 and 2020. Leading the International Institute of Political Murder (IIPM), since 2009, and Das Niederländische Theater Gent (NTGent), since 2018, Milo Rau has been developing works based on intervention and political reflection, using theater as a means of investigating the political and social ills triggered by neoliberalism. For this, the artist develops hypotheses, theories, manifestos, in addition to realizing fieldworks, seeking to understand human urgencies from a global perspective. His scene is multiethnic and plurilingual, conceived from a performative aesthetic that denies both documentary and scenic illusion. The artist is interested in inserting political theater within a multicultural and decolonial context, and for this reason he criticizes the cynicism of the capitalist system and the self-centered logic of Europe. Based on Milo Rau’s work, we propose definitions to the term “investigative theater”, using a comparative method, which privileges discursive analysis, between the works and reports of the artist’s work, as well as interviews and bibliographical review in theoretical terms. Our conclusion indicates the establishment of a field within theatrical studies and theater practices that sets theater as a political and pedagogical project to discuss issues of global citizenship and human rights, mixing art and activism in transnational and transcultural perspectives.