Improvável – um espetáculo provavelmente bom: Relevance-theoretic analysis of interactional processes in the game Cenas improváveis

Abstract

Inspired on the British and American show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, where the public can create scenes for the actors to interpret, the Cia. Barbixas de Humor produces the performance Improvável – um espetáculo provavelmente bom (Unlikely – a likely good performance). In the game Cenas improváveis (Unlikely scenes), actors improvise scenes based on absurd themes sorted from a set of themes proposed by the audience. Since the achievement of the scenes requires ostensiveinferential skills and competencies, by hypothesis, guided by cognitive and communicative principle of relevance, as proposed by Sperber and Wilson (1986, 1995), this article analyzes from a relevance-theoretic approach one unlikely scene selected from YouTube. Based on the study, we positively evaluate the descriptive and explanatory adequacy of Relevance Theory for empirical analysis of verbal and nonverbal interactional processes in theatrical improvisation.

Key words: Relevance Theory, comedy, improvisation.