20th-Century Spanish Theater: A Renewal
Early 20th Century Theater
The early 20th century saw attempts to revitalize Spanish theater, moving beyond the realistic drama of the previous era. A recurring theme was a chronicle of bourgeois concerns and prejudices, often conveyed with gentle irony.
Classifications of Works
Conception of the Drama:
- Interior Bourgeois Citizens: Dramas set in the homes of the upper-middle class, reflecting their lifestyles (e.g., “The Alien Nest”).
- Cosmopolitan Interiors: Set during the winter season, featuring princes, princesses, nobles, and artists (e.g., “On Saturday Night”).
- Provincial Interior: Works developed in a fictional moralistic city, reminiscent of Clarín’s style (e.g., “Gov.”).
- Rural Affairs: Dramas unfolding in the homes of wealthy peasants (e.g., “Lady Love”).
Special Interests:
Situated within the farcical, exploring the power of money through characters reminiscent of the Italian commedia dell’arte, achieving universal satire.
The Unloved:
Emphasizing the sense of honor in rural dramas, presenting a world of raw human passions. Characters are peasants whose language reflects popular speech, highlighting themes of passion, prohibition, and political intrigue.
The Rise of Comic Theater
The early 20th century also saw the rise of comic theater, aimed at entertaining the public. This included musical works (opera, revue, vaudeville) and non-musical works (comic play, farce, astrakhan). Notable authors include the Alvarez Quintero brothers (“The Suit of Lights,” “The Courtyard”), Pedro Muñoz Seca (“The Revenge of Don Mendo”), and Carlos Arniches (“The Chiefs,” “Is My Man”).
Attempts at Stage Renewal
Unamuno and Azorín contributed significantly to stage renewal. Unamuno’s minimalist approach reduced passions to their core (e.g., “Dead” and “Princess Doña Lambra”). Azorín challenged naturalist aesthetics, advocating for a theater incorporating anti-realistic and marvelous elements (e.g., the “Invisible” trilogy: “The Spider in the Mirror,” “Doctor Death,” and “The Reaper”).
The Dramatic Tradition of Valle-Inclán
Valle-Inclán’s work demonstrates a continuous desire for renewal, breaking from the theatrical conventions of his time. He progressively evolved towards his signature style, the esperpento.
Early Works
Valle-Inclán’s early works often dramatized the theme of adultery, including:
- The Marquis de Bradomín: Depicts a meeting between the Marquis and a lady at the Brandeso Palace, utilizing ridicule (particularly with the housekeeper character) and multiple action locations.
- Son of Souls: Focuses on a young woman leaving her husband for a younger lover, exalting tenderness and feeling while criticizing religion and bourgeois society.
Mythic Cycle
that are related by their themes, characters, atmosphere and meaning, and Galicia are located in a mythical, timeless. Include:
· Comedy barbaric. It’s a trilogy composed of “Eagle heraldry”, “Romance of Wolves” and “silver face” dramtiza words Montenegro.Divinas tragedy. In this work, the confluence of the nonsensical world distorted and decadent styling. this document presents a Dwarf to make money. But this is killed getting drunk, and then show that the cruelty and human compassion are meaningless.
In its sham, valley introduces characters from the entertainment, the use of costumes and play within a play, for the breaking of the effect of stage reality. Include:
• The dragon head: present a fairy tale atmosphere, citing the poor economic situation especially Spanish and criticism of the monarchy, the military and cortesanos.La love with the King. He contrasted the sentimental and the grotesque, with the conflict of love Mari-Justina by the queen Rey.La Marquesa Rosalinda castiza and refer to the genre of farce.
Valle culminates with grotesque that distorts certain aspects of the character and situations, producing a vision characterized alternately comic and macabre. Include:
· Luces de bohemia. Count the trip Dante Max Estrlla, old poet, guided by Hispalis Lotina of various places in Madrid until his death at the door of your own home. The action is divided into fifteen scenes ranging from dusk to the night of dIA below and developed in places múltiples.Martes Carnival. The Spanish army is the focus of criticism in this trilogy: the horns of Don trifles, features characters animalized afantochados and viewed by other characters react as if they were smarter than them Galas dead, a military hero rebel against the world that is gentrifying the victim; The Captain’s Daughter, he criticized the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera.