The plebeian scene

carnival theatricalities beyond Montevideo

Abstract

In Uruguay, carnival theatricalities, as forms of popular theater, constitute the main foundation of the plebeian public sphere. Numerous authors have referred to or in-vestigated the forms of carnival theatre from an anthropological, historical, sociolog-ical, lyrical, or musical point of view. However, there are few or non-existent studies that pay attention to aspects of staging and theatricality, or that study the poetics of specific ensembles and shows. With a few exceptions, there are also no studies that deal with the other genres of carnival: parodistas, revistas, humoristas, sociedades de negros y lubolos, escuelas de samba, different categories of Uruguayan popular carnival expressions, with their own features, other than murgas. And even less works that consider and study carnival theatre beyond Montevideo, in the rest of the country. This work invites to overcome these shortcomings and promotes a field of research that contemplates these three agendas: the study of carnival as theater, the study of other carnival genres apart from murgas, and the study of carnival theater in the rest of the country, contemplating its differences, polyphony as well as its aes-thetic and political density. After a theoretical introduction, a partial survey focused on the west coastal region and border zones of the country is offered, as well as some initial reflections.