A product of Pedro Mora-Madriñán's doctoral research project Critical Theory on the Periphery of Capitalism at EXC 2020, the paper reassesses contemporary epic theatre through the prism of Roberto Schwarz's play Rainha Lira, arguing that the late-twentieth-century 'end of history' revived the movement's critical force.

By comparing Rainha Lira with Brecht's Saint Joan of the Stockyards, this contribution to a fresh-off-the-press collection dedicated to the work of the Austrian-Brazilian critic Roberto Schwarz and its relevance for current debates in the humanities highlights a shared realistic transparency alongside a key difference: Brecht's play is guided by political certainties, whereas Schwarz's stages impasse and disorientation. Ultimately, Rainha Lira is read as a Brechtian catalyst that crystallises the neoliberal crisis and offers critical insight into the blocked dynamics of modern social life.

    

Pedro Mora-Madriñán. "Brecht after the End of History: The Contemporary Relevance of Epic Theater in Roberto Schwarz's Rainha Lira". In Roberto Schwarz Beyond Borders, edited by Laura Rivas Gagliardi, Melanie Strasser and Claudio Cardinali, 135–50. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2026.