Prison, art and life: The Living Theatre in Brazil

The American group Living Theatre, a reference in off-Broadway theater and an icon of the counterculture, had its passage through Brazil marked by arrest and expulsion from the country. In 1971, they were arrested by the Department of Political and Social Order (Dops) in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, accused of possession of narcotics in a context where a growing repression was being undertaken against countercultural practices seen as subversive, such as drug use. This article aims to narrate Living Theatre's passage through Brazil, with special focus on the group's imprisonment, inserting it in the dictatorial context. In this sense, we will discuss both the trajectory of the troupe and its connection with the protest movements, as well as the performance of the artists in the face of incarceration and press coverage.