O poder do teatro enquanto espaço de materialidade

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the place of theater in a post-COVID-19 era by reinforcing the indelible link of this artistic form to the assembly of people in the same physical space. Even before the establishment of containment measures, it was possible to detect the increasing migration of human life to the de-territorialized space of the digital, in what concerns work, leisure, interpersonal communication, and even the search for a romantic/sexual partner. The necessity of limiting physical proximity to other people in order to slow viral transmission, a both relevant and useful measure, has certainly increased the above mentioned tendency. Confronted with closed working spaces, authors of the performing arts have searched for alternatives in the digital space. However, this territory has limitations that collide with central characteristics of our concept of theater. Theater can still be understood as a form of resistance against the digitalization of human life, insofar as it continues to be “the physical manifestation of something that happens in front of an audience of flesh and bone individuals” (CARNEVALI 2020), and in a concrete physical space.