ESPECT-ATRIZES: cruzamentos entre Teatro do Oprimido, neurociência e estudos de recepção

This article presents a bibliographical review, reflecting on the intersection between theatrical audience Reception Studies, from a neuroscientific perspective, and the artistic and pedagogical practices of the Theatre of the Oppressed (Augusto Boal, 1993), in order to make a robust contribution to studies on the impact of these practices on their participants, whether they are creative artists or spect-actors. The construction of the article revisits the bibliography on the subject, analyzes a workshop held at the Portuguese Catholic University, part of a larger ongoing research project, and lists possible methodologies for Reception Studies in theater for these purposes. It should be noted that, although words like oppression and empowerment appear frequently in studies, it is necessary here to reflect on their meanings, in order to differentiate them from common, everyday usage and even from their appropriation by neoliberalism.We start from the discussion raised by theorist Liz Tomlin (2019) that we must seek an artistic path in which we can still create politically committed shows without, however, failing to respect the subjectivities of spectatorship, or the emancipation of the spectator. We also considered the studies of Flávio Desgranges (2020), who believes that it is essential to consider the spectator when transforming theater, since there is no theater without a spectator. We conclude that neuropsychology and neuroscience, as well as studies in empowerment, show tools that can be strong allies in workshops and artistic practices based on the Aesthetics of the Oppressed.