(In)capacity and (im)potency in A Moratória, by Jorge Andrade

ABSTRACT This article discusses the social and identity questions raised in the play A Moratória, by Brazilian author Jorge Andrade (1922-1984). Based on the journey taken by the family of Joaquim and Helena, farmers made precarious by the coffee crisis of 1929, it reveals a picture that goes beyond the individual experiences of the characters, taking on collective contours marked by complex political and economic transformations. In this context, the play's innovative stage construction stands out, structured in two physical planes in which spatiality emerges as a temporal reference. In the space of the stage, distinct temporal moments are combined: 1929, when the couple is still in the farmhouse; and 1932, when the family lives in a nearby town, facing the financial difficulties and marginalization resulting from the loss of their land. An initial reading focuses on Lucília, the couple's daughter, because she is the character who becomes the family's breadwinner. However, the analysis here points to the physical, emotional and affective disruption experienced by all the other characters, each involved in (in)enabling processes, marked by (im)potency, in which the fragility of the reaction and the lack of possibilities go hand in hand with alienation and flight. For a theoretical basis, aesthetic and structural aspects of modern dramaturgy were researched. KEYWORDS: A moratoria; Jorge Andrade; modern theater; (in)capacity; (im)potency.