We told listeners in the Estadão Collection program that in April 1965 posters were scattered throughout the São Paulo Puc -Campus: Tuca is coming. Tuca – Theater at the Pontific Catholic University, in addition to a cultural space has become known in Brazil as a focus on resistance to the military regime and now 50 years in September.
For the theater’s congregation, three signings were made: Roberto Freire as Director General of the Theaters Group, Silnei Siqueira, a professional from TV records, would be head of actor and José Armando Ferrara would be responsible for the scenography. Following an agreement on the release of funds from the Culture Secretariat, the work chosen for the inauguration was Liv and Death Severina, by João Cabral de Melo Neto. The reasons for the election were the fact that the author was Brazilian and the theme dealt with a social reality that went to meet the student ideology, and there were actors interested in the text. The theme song for Play Death and Life Severina is a composition by Chico Buarque de Hollanda called “A Funeral of a Farmer”. He also prepared the other audio tracks in the show.
The journalist and university professor, Jorge Claudio Ribeiro, says the space arose thanks to the efforts of several people, in a period of censorship and dictatorship, to gather shows, “Chico Buarque himself sold a Beetle who had to help in the congregation in the game,” said Ribei who raised the artist’s artist’s artist’s tideline. The action talks about the journey in a northeastern re -treatment that runs away from drought in Backlands and goes to recife in search of better living conditions. On the premiere day, the federal police participated to scare the audience that came, but the spectacle was normal.
But it was not only the game by João Cabral de Melo Neto that marked the political track for Tuca for the 50 years, there was one of the editions of the International Song Festival in 1968, where Caetano Veloso enters the discussion with the public that sang “It is forbidden forbidden”. The public does not understand the meaning of the letter and Boo. Caetano ends the song and asks, “But is it the youth who wants to take power? You don’t understand anything!” BARK. There were other deep phrases in the outbreak of Caetano Veloso because many events in the political and social field were not informed to the population due to censorship and people were confused to position themselves politically, especially young people.
That year would be terminated under institutional law no. 5, promulgated on December 8, 1968 and banned and approved police oppression of demonstrations in public places, but Caetano sang what would come and the public did not understand. That day for the festival, Caetano Veloso had to leave Tuca from behind, hidden in the middle of construction work at the university restaurant not to be struck by the students.
Censorship and oppression of the military dictatorship would continue to keep an eye on Tuca for a long time. Henrique Suster, head of the theater at the Catholic University, between 1969 and 1974, talks about a concert by Chico Buarque, where he and the artist met the Trluculenen of the Federal Police after the show. “They went to the dressing rooms and surrounded us, gave a speech against the subversion against me and Chico, gave some jerks and kicks on us and left, but they arrested anyone.
Another remarkable event and today part of the history of Brazil, took place on September 22, 1977, when about 500 police officers from the support, invaded the PUC campus in Sao Paulo, beaten and arrested, according to the newspapers, about 2,000 students who participated in a public law. Some were withdrawn from campus and others were damaged by cassette and kicks.
Five tear gas bombs were exploded and several “Petard” exploded and left 15 people injured, five of them with third degrees burns. Operation War was aimed at preventing demonstrations from the reorganization of the National Student Union – UNE, the theme of the student meeting that took place on university campus, a place that was considered independent territory, which could not even at that time by AI -5 to be occupied by the state.
PUC Invasion Commander was Colonel Erasmo Dias, then secretary for public security. After the confusion, students from other universities announced that the next day, they would make a large march through the streets of the city center that demanded the end of institutional acts and amnesty to political prisoners. There were no social networks, the demonstration was planned for five in the afternoon by the students themselves and there was a fear that oppression could be even greater than at PUC.
Republic Square has already gone up the police by the Prime Minister’s shock battalion. The student walk began at a scheduled time to leave the back of the municipal theater and rising São João Avenue against Republic and Sé. The police were large, but the march was transferred without incidents, despite the parols and provocations to the military regime that there would now not be a boost abroad that there was really oppression in the country.
Such events are added to others that caused the government to promote political opening, but Tuca would still be a victim of another attack. On September 22, 1984, a fire as a criminal theater almost completely destroyed. A reconstruction campaign mobilized society to open it gently four years later. In the first show after the return there were no armchairs yet and only in 2003 would the building be completely modernized, hold on the walls, the marks of fire, to show new generations the importance of the theater for the pontifest Catholic university in the magnification time of national culture and the conquest of democratic freedoms.
All this is part of Tuca’s history, a reference for the country. Since 2006 there has been a theater documentation and memorial center and to check the news on the fifties day, visit the portal: www.teatrotuca.com.br
To listen to the report, we prepared for Tuca for Radio Estadão click on the link below and go to the program’s third block.