Teatro de Quintal: specific processes of theatrical composition in Unaí – MG
Teatro de Quintal (backyard theater), Unaí – MG, group theater, Cia. Pé na Estrada
The text portrays an analysis of the work by Cia Pé na Estrada, an upcountry theater group, of which I am part, that has been yielding and presenting its theater at a backyard in the city of Unaí – Minas Gerais, located 150 km from Brasília. It was pursuing very simple alternatives to theater in a context such as of Unaí – a small to midsized agricultural town, where there are no galleries, theaters or concert halls – that we reach Teatro de Quintal. With no other place that would accommodate us, we started to rehearse and perform our works at the backyard of the house of one of the group members, in the neighborhood that summarizes the town fringes in the imaginary of the people of Unaí. What seemed like our only alternative to a very serious urban issue, so much greater than Cia. Pé na Estrada, has grown into a poetical and political possibility to our creations. This work goes through the history of Unaí and the practice of theater in the town and reaps elements that help understand Teatro de Quintal not only as workspace, but also as political poetics, the beginning of our fight for the right to our town.