The Black Experimental Theater, Teatro Experimental do Negro (TEN) was founded in 1944 by Afro Brazilian artist and scholar Abdias Nascimento. Located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, the purpose of the organization was to promote Black culture through the creation of a new, innovative dramaturgic style.
This new artistic praxis was uniquely Afro Brazilian.
Nascimento was tired of the lack of Blackness represented in Brazilian theatrical productions. When Black actors were visible in the theatre it was limited to stereotypical and pejorative roles. Nascimento rejected the notion of the Negro as simply a background character in Brazilian literature, lacking subjectivity.
TEN was created to center Black protagonism. According to Nascimento, the goal of the Black Experimental Theatre was to defend the “cultural truth of Brazil.” The collective was initially made up of actors who were manual laborers, maids and other residents of favelas including a few local professionals.
Among the founding collective, Nascimento was joined by a lawyer Aguinaldo de Oliveira Camargo and artists Wilson Tiberius, Teodorico Santos and José Herbel. Soon after, they were accompanied by activists Sebastião Rodrigues Alves, Claudiano Filho, Oscar Araújo, José da Silva, Antonio Barbosa, Arlinda Serafim, Ruth de Souza, Mariana Gonçalves (the three worked as domestic employees), Natalino Dionísio, and others.
The first original production was “The Prodigal Son of Lúcio Cardoso”, inspired by the biblical parable. Critics lauded it as the best of the year. Following this success, the theatre added percussionists, singers, and dancers. They went on to tour for almost 10 years throughout Europe.
TEN’s influence stretched beyond social theater. Aspiring to improve the quality of life of the Black population, they organized the Afro-Brazilian Democratic Committee in 1946, advocated for legislation making racial discrimination a crime organized the first Congress of the Brazilian Negro, and the production of a newspaper.
Due to financial challenges, TEN was forced to close its doors in 1961. In its short time, the Black theatre definitively ushered in the modern era of Brazilian theatre.
