O Tablado

Maria Clara Machado founded O Tablado on 28 October 1951 in a room provided by the Patronato Operario da Gavea on the banks of Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, Rio de Janeiro. Machado had trained in Paris between late 1949 and 1950 on a French government scholarship, studying actor training under Jean-Louis Barrault. She returned to Brazil with the dual mission of producing artistically ambitious theatre and training the next generation of Brazilian performers.

In 1955, O Tablado premiered Machado's most celebrated work, "Pluft, o Fantasminha" (Pluft the Little Ghost), directed by Machado herself. The play received the APCA prize, was translated into multiple languages, and was performed across Europe, Latin America, and the United States. It is widely regarded as the most important play in Brazilian children's theatre. Machado wrote approximately 29 plays for children and young adults and 12 books over her career.

The school grew to approximately 700 students and more than 20 teachers. A free improvisation course became a distinctive feature of the curriculum, training generations of Brazilian actors before improv theatre developed as a distinct form in Brazil. Machado died in 2001, the year O Tablado completed its first half-century. Her niece Caca assumed artistic direction after her death.

The school has been declared Cultural and Intangible Heritage of both the city and the State of Rio de Janeiro and is registered by both municipal and federal governments. It continues to operate today at Av. Lineu de Paula Machado 795, Lagoa, offering courses in improvisation, character building, and theatrical development.

O Tablado operates as a theatre school offering courses in improvisation, character building, and theatrical development. Its long-standing free improvisation course, offered alongside classical actor training and movement, introduced structured improv study to generations of Brazilian performers. The school offers both in-person and online courses.

O Tablado trained more than 5,000 performing arts professionals over seven decades, including Fernanda Torres, Fernanda Montenegro, Malu Mader, Claudia Abreu, Andrea Beltrao, Mateus Solano, Gregorio Duvivier, and Enrique Diaz. Its improvisation curriculum influenced the development of improv practice in Brazil, and Maria Clara Machado's "Pluft, o Fantasminha" remains the most celebrated play in Brazilian children's theatre.