Elective affinities

Carlos Porto, Mário Sério, and an idea of theatre (criticism) for democracy building

Abstract

This article proposes a comparative analysis of theatre criticism produced by Carlos Porto and Mário Sério during the Ongoing Revolutionary Process (PREC) between April 25, 1974 and November 25, 1975, based on a corpus of 225 texts collected from newspapers such as Diário de Lisboa and República. Through the online database CETbase – Theatre in Portugal and complementary archival research, ideological affinities between the critics were identified, namely in the defence of a politically committed theatre at the service of social transformation after 48 years of Portuguese dictatorship. However, the analysis reveals significant differences in evaluation criteria and critical approach: while Mário Sério favours an almost exclusively political reading of theatre, centred on its social function and ethical mission, Carlos Porto adopts a more nuanced stance, integrating aesthetic elements and resorting to a more robust and diversified critical apparatus. A comparison of their assessments of revue theatre and Brecht’s productions highlights these differences, as well as the different degrees of involvement of each critic in the Portuguese theatre system. Porto, who is closer to the centres of decision-making and has greater experience, presents a concrete programme for the reorganisation of national theatre, while Sério positions himself as a more peripheral agent with a less consistent vision of his criticism. The study suggests that, despite methodological differences, both critics share an ethical view of theatre as an instrument of political and cultural emancipation.