Contact zones: dramaturgy workshops during the last military dictatorship and the democratic resumption (1976-1985)

Abstract

The political repression carried out by the last military dictatorship in Argentina produced a profound disarticulation of the theatre field, forcing stage practices and theatrical training spaces to reinvent their modes of production and association. In this context, the pedagogical interventions of authors such as Osvaldo Dragún and Ricardo Monti developed new procedures in the field of theater writing. These experiences were followed by the playwriting workshops that took place during the democratic period. In the following article we describe the teaching processes developed by Ricardo Monti during the military government and the workshop proposals carried out within the Teatro Abierto 1985. Both places became focal points in the process of autonomization of playwriting training from the drama training workshops and contributed to the recognition of playwriting as a type of discipline that carries a knowledge that’s specific and different from that achieved in acting practices or stage directions learning.