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The Brazilian Theater flourished in the 30's, with the production of plays by national authors.  Until that time, the major stages in the country had staged Italian and German operas with great actresses such as Isadora Duncan and Sarah Bernhardt and the great opera star Enrico Caruso, among others.

The splendor of these great scenic spectaculars coincided with the rubber boom in the Amazon, in the beginning of the 20th Century.  Theatrical companies from London and Paris had long runs in the two principal capitals of the region - Belem, in Para, and Manaus, in Amazonas.  Beautiful theaters were built there, financed by rubber exportation on a grand scale.

Modern Brazilian Theater arrived on stage in the 40's with the Brazilian Comedic Theatrical Company (TBC), the largest theater school in the country.  This company was responsible for the professionalism of the genre that occurred in the 50's, and for the formation of an entire generation of actors, directors, scene designers, and playwrights.  The play Bridal Gown, of 1943, revolutionized the theatrical language of the country.  The author, whose works are classified as psychological and tragic, was the playwright, novelist, and journalist Nelson Rodrigues (1912-1980).

The military coup of 1964 in Brazil generated the Theater of Contestation, which involved engaging the politically active parts of the population, principally students.  These Arena and Workshop groups took theater to the general public.  The plays were subject to censorship.  Since 1985, theater plays that were previously hidden away in drawers have been slowly coming out of hiding, accompanying the slow re-democratization of the country.