20th-Century Spanish Theater: A Renaissance
In the early decades of the 20th century, several attempts were made to renew the theater scene, which at the end of the previous century was dominated by realistic drama and the work of José Echegaray.
Commercial Theater
In commercial theater, Jacinto Benavente’s work stands out, characterized by restraint in the composition of situations and characters, and the meticulous realism of the staging of his dramas. Musical theater, including comic theater, song, and dance, was prominent with the Álvarez Quintero brothers. The astracán of Pedro Muñoz Seca and the grotesque tragedies of Carlos Arniches also gained popularity. Verse drama, following the ephemeral fashion of French theater with the model of Cyrano, employed fantastic historical themes or modernist meters. Notable playwrights in this style include Eduardo Marquina, Francisco Villaespesa, and the Machado brothers.
Early Attempts at Renewal
The first attempts at stage renewal were led by Jacinto Grau, Miguel de Unamuno with his teatro desnudo (bare stage), and Azorín with his alleged anti-realism. However, the theater of the time reached its peak with Valle-Inclán and Lorca, whose works influenced later theater and are still performed today. These innovations were accompanied by a growing interest in scenography. Theorists insisted on the need to harmonize all scenic components, focusing on lighting to create environments and situations, and to emphasize the action.
Modern Literature and Comic Genres
In modern literature, during the early decades of the 20th century, comic genres dominated, often accompanied by lyrical elements. Their basic purpose was public entertainment.
Works with Music
- Operetta: Frivolous themes with an emphasis on visual and musical entertainment.
- Magazine: Series of quasi-independent elements, often featuring erotic and cosmopolitan environments.
- Vaudeville: Frivolous, light, and spicy comedy.
Works without Music
- Juguete cómico: A degenerate form of comedy characterized by disorder and a disregard for probability.
- Farce: Based on popular characters, often from Madrid, and presenting conflicts related to love, jealousy, honor, and power.
- Astracán: A genre based on comical absurdity.
Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero premiered many works in which the Andalusian environment predominates, with a notable use of dialogue. Their works include El traje de luces, El patio, Las de Caín, and Mariquilla terremoto. Pedro Muñoz Seca, the creator of the astracán genre, is known for works such as La venganza de Don Mendo and La conferencia de Extremadura. Carlos Arniches adopted two new forms: the broad farce and the grotesque tragedy, a comedy that plays with the superficial while dealing with profound content. His works include ¡Que viene mi marido!, Los caciques, La ciudad heroica, and Es mi hombre.
Theatrical Renewal Attempts
Among the first attempts to renew theater, the contributions of Unamuno, Azorín, Jacinto Grau, Miguel Hernández, Rafael Alberti, and Max Aub stand out. Coinciding with European renovating currents, Unamuno proposed a teatro desnudo, characterized by the abolition of effects not directly dependent on the word and the rhetoric of verbal language. This involved reducing characters to a minimum, passions to their core, and the action to a schematic form. He sought the ultimate reality of human beings through theater, which became a method of knowledge. His notable works include La princesa Doña Lambra, El otro, Soledad, Fedra, and La sombra del sueño. Azorín’s theater was based on experimentation and the search for a more subtle and solid reality. He championed natural aesthetics and anti-realist theater, incorporating the subconscious and the marvelous. He considered the transformation of technique and the structure of theatrical spectacle necessary. His basic themes are happiness, time, and death, notably explored in the trilogy Lo Invisible, which addresses the mystery of death.
Valle-Inclán and the Theater
Valle-Inclán’s dramatic trajectory demonstrates a continuous desire for renewal and a formal and thematic intent to break with the theater of his time. He incorporated characters with realistic language, moving away from symbolist theater. In his work El marqués de Bradomín, the use of ridicule and the technique of multiple action sites are prominent. The works of his mythic cycle are related by their themes, characters, atmosphere, and meaning, and are set in a mythical, timeless Galicia. These include the Comedias bárbaras, Divinas palabras, and El embrujado. In his farces, Valle-Inclán introduces characters from the world of theater, using costumes and playing within a play to break the effect of scenic reality. These include La marquesa Rosalinda, a critique of Spain; La cabeza del dragón, with a fairytale atmosphere; El amor brujo, which contrasts the sentimental and the grotesque; and Farsa y licencia de la reina castiza, a satire of the reign of Isabella II. Valle-Inclán’s dramatic production culminated in the grotesque, which deforms certain aspects of character and situations, resulting in a caricatured vision that is alternately comic and macabre. Luces de bohemia is a fierce political and social satire of Spain at the time, as is Martes de Carnaval, which is divided into Las galas del difunto, La hija del capitán, and Los cuernos de don Friolera.
Lorca and Total Theater
Lorca’s dramatic production expresses the problems of life and history through a language loaded with connotations. His first plays, such as El maleficio de la mariposa and Mariana Pineda, are akin to modern theater. Lorca’s four farces develop the conflict arising from marriages of convenience between the old and the young: Tragicomedia de don Cristóbal y la señá Rosita, Retablillo de Don Cristóbal, El retablillo de Don Cristóbal, and Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín. In his theater, he anticipates the breakup of space-time logic, split personality, and the possibility of multiple interpretations, as seen in Así que pasen cinco años, El público, and Comedia sin título. Lorca’s tragedies are set in rural environments where natural forces impose a tragic destiny. In these dramas, the plot is of little importance, with few main characters and the involvement of choruses. These works include Bodas de sangre, Yerma, and La casa de Bernarda Alba.