The researcher and the theatre: a new perspective on the scene

From tireless research in the Municipal Historical Archive of Santa Maria in Rio Grande do Sul, art history classes at the Franciscan University of Santa Maria and theatre classes in the Todos ao Palco Extension Project (UFN/RS), a personal desire arose to work with theatre as historiographical and cultural research of a region in the interior of the state (RS). With theatre in Santa Maria at the beginning of the 20th century as her main theme, Carla Thaís Rodrigues Rosa drew up a pertinent overview of Santa Maria’s theatrical life. The author researched, selected and analysed newspaper clippings, photographs, the code of postures and programmes of dramatic performances in order to produce a short, easy-to-understand text that addressed the city’s political, economic and cultural scene. He was equally interested in analysing the codes of conduct in force in the city in 1920 in order to confront the cultural and behavioural transformations of the urban society that frequented Santa Maria’s theatres, using the history of the railway as a framework for his research. The book captures these cultural changes and observes the relevance of theatre art in this period.