Globalizing Allegory: Augusto Boal's A Lua Pequena e a Caminhada Perigosa in Brazil and Cape Verde

Abstract

This article suggests that Augusto Boal’s play, A Lua Pequena e a Caminhada Perigosa, a documentary drama about Che Guevara’s execution in Bolivia, is an example of "global allegory," differing from Fredric Jameson’s notion of "national allegory" because it addresses specific political situations in multiple countries simultaneously. Local stage productions, however, transform global allegories into national allegories, since performances respond to varying political climates. Thus, the same allegory that condemned the Brazilian dictatorship of Humberto de Alencar Castello Branco when staged as part of the São Paulo Feira de Opinião in 1968 served to celebrate the PAIGC party’s recent victory over Portuguese colonialism, as well as its installment as government in a one-party state, when performed as part of Cape Verde’s Independence Day celebrations in 1977. (CSMM)