Maria Clara Machado
Maria Clara Machado was a Brazilian playwriter, who specialized on plays for children. She was born in 1921, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and died in Rio de Janeiro in 2001, where she lived most of her life. Daughter of writer Aníbal Machado, she studied theater in Paris; on her return to Brazil, she founded the acting school O Tablado, in Rio de Janeiro. O Tablado was responsible for the formation of many Brazilian actors, and was the laboratory where she directed her own plays.
Among those, Pluft o Fantasminha , A Bruxinha que Era Boa, Maroquinhas Fru-Fru, O Rapto das Cebolinhas, A Menina e o Vento, O Cavalinho Azul, Tribobó City, and many others.
Her plays were always a huge success among children and adults alike. She received a number of awards including the Prêmio Machado de Assis from the Brazilian Academy of Letters.