This essay is about theater for the youngest audience 0–6 years. The aim is to highlight the actor's role in the encounter with the small child and the question I am investigating is: How has my work creating and performing theater for young children over many years influenced and shaped me as an actor? I put into words many years of research into performing arts for children and I also practically investigate my question in a performance for adults - fake or fur. With my essay, I want to clarify the knowledge required to be able to meet a child who may be visiting a theater for the first time. What does it mean for an actor to play for young children? What is acting for the youngest audience and what are the creative processes like? I describe the specifics of theater for the youngest partly through reflection and narration of mainly three productions, Clothes off Clothes on (2-4 years), Bubbla and Bo both for an audience of babies 6-12 months and their adults. Long preparatory work and the necessity of a reference audience are described here. There are several stories about various audience meetings over the years. The second part of my essay describes my work with the scenic part of my master's project. I examine theme, form and appeal to an adult audience in order to find clear differences in acting for children and for adults. With my story, I want to highlight the specific skills required for an artistic dialogue with the youngest audience where the actor, in addition to his role in the performance, must be able to guide the children into a theatrical ritual. Going to the theater. It requires a special interest and perseverance, as well as being aware of one's responsibility both for the children and acknowledging one's own memory of being a child. A kind of ”soft” acting that can be quickly adapted to today's audience. It takes sensitivity, courage and a willingness to learn the language of the children's world.

A presente tese investiga a pertinência e a relevância cultural de um teatro voltado especialmente para bebês. Para tanto, foi realizado um estudo de inspiração etnográfica, que consistiu principalmente da participação da pesquisadora como público em espetáculos teatrais voltados especialmente para essa faixa etária, na cidade de São Paulo. Desta forma, o teatro para bebês consistiria uma unidade mínima bastante especial e oportuna para a observação de fenômenos culturais, nos quais há construções conjuntas de significados, envolvendo adultos e crianças. Foram assistidos doze espetáculos de teatro para bebês, dos quais cinco foram analisados mais detalhadamente. Observou-se a dinâmica de interações que se estabelecia a partir das proposições cênicas das/dos artistas e da montagem, bem como da recepção e da participação da plateia, composta de adultos e crianças, especialmente as bem pequenas, até dois anos. Também foram realizadas entrevistas com os artistas criadores dos espetáculos. Para as análises, foram utilizados principalmente quatro referenciais teóricos: a tese de Vigotski (1995) de que as funções superiores são a cultura internalizada, atualizada no estudo proposto por Pino (2005) no que diz respeito à ideia de humano; o referencial teórico da Rede de Significações (RedSig); a ideia de dieta cultural proposta por Del Río e Álvarez (2007); e a Estética da Recepção, a partir das ideias de Robert Jauss (1979) e Wolfgang Iser (1996). Constatou-se que há semelhanças entre o teatro para bebês e a escola de educação infantil quanto à dinâmica do triângulo relacional que se estabelece entre mães/pais, professores, e bebês, na escola; e mães/pais, professores e bebês, no teatro. Como na escola, mas de forma \"concentrada\", o teatro para bebês oferece oportunidade de construção de significados conjuntos, da descoberta do outro, de disputa de atenção e de crescimento envolvendo adultos e crianças. Concluiu-se que é pertinente que se crie e apresente espetáculos teatrais especialmente para a primeira infância (bebês) e que a oferta desse tipo de produção, já considerável em São Paulo, tende a aumentar e se diversificar nos próximos anos. / This thesis investigates the pertinence and cultural relevance of theatrical production targeting babies. To that end, a study of ethnographical inspiration was conducted, consisting primarily of participation by the researcher as a member of the audience in dramatic productions aimed at this age range, in the city of São Paulo. In this way, theatre for babies would constitute a minimal unity, quite special and inviting for the observation of cultural phenomena, in which children and adults take part as a group in the construction of meanings. Twelve productions were watched, five of which were chosen for a more in-depth analysis. We observed the interaction dynamics established by the dramatic propositions of the artists and the production itself, as well as reception and participation by the audience, composed by adults and children, especially the very young, up to two years of age. Interviews were also conducted with the creators of the productions. For the analyses, four theoretical cornerstones were mainly used: the thesis by Vigotski (1995) that the superior functions are internalized culture, updated in the study proposed by Pino (2005) with respect to the idea of human; the theoretical reference of the network of meanings; the idea of cultural diet proposed by Del Río and Álvarez (2007); and the Aesthetics of Reception, from the ideas of Robert Jauss (1979) and Wolfgang Iser (1996). We found that there are resemblances between the theatre for babies and the institution of Early Childhood Education regarding the relational triangle established by parents, teachers and babies, at school; and parents, teachers and babies, at the theatre. As in school, albeit in a concentrated manner, theatre for babies offers opportunities for the constructing of joint meanings, the discovery of the Other, the dispute for attention and growth involving adults and children. We concluded that creating and presenting dramatic productions made specially for children in their early infancies (babies) is a pertinent practice, and that the supply of this type of production, already sizeable in São Paulo, is predicted to increase and to diversify in the next few years.