Português The theatre as a political manifesto in the advent of the salazar regime: The case of the play O Estandarte (the banner), in 1932

Abstract

This study aims to analyse the plot and the multiple contours of O Estandarte, an original unpublished work, considered as lost, by António Ferro, which premiered in April 1932. In addition to examining the atmosphere of animosity that surrounded the first showing, it studies other aspects, such as the author's motivations for having based the play on real facts, focusing on the life of Homem Cristo Filho, not only in order to rehabilitate his memory, but also to claim the need for appeasement between factions within the same political sector. In addition to analysing the press of that period, this research also studied the original
correspondence between the two men, examining the motivations and previous circumstances that led Ferro to debut the play at that political moment, and the possibility of contributing to the creation of an environment that favoured the rise of Salazar before public opinion, while moving away from an extremist past, which was very convenient in the advent of the new order that was beginning to arise.