20th Century Spanish Theater: From Benavente to Lorca
20th Century Spanish Theater
1. Overview
The theater of the 20th century in Spain can be seen as a continuation of 19th-century trends. It encompasses three main dramatic currents:
- Benavente’s bourgeois comedy and its followers
- Comic theater, linked to manners, farce, and the romantic and modernist heritage of verse drama
- Innovative theater, introducing new techniques and approaches
Early attempts at theatrical renewal were carried out by playwrights such as Unamuno, with his stripped-down theater, and Azorín, with his alleged anti-realism. However, Spanish theater of the first decades of the 20th century reached its peak with the works of Ramón del Valle-Inclán and Federico García Lorca. Novecentismo authors like Ramón Gómez de la Serna, and later the Generation of ’27, also contributed with new ideological approaches and aesthetic expressions.
2. The Triumphant Theater
2.1 The Benaventine Comedy
Jacinto Benavente (1866-1954) is the most representative playwright of this period. His works generally align with the “drawing-room comedy” genre, with the exception of his masterpiece, The Vested Interests, which offers a critical view of bourgeois ideals. He also experimented with rural drama (The Lady of the House, 1908 and The Wrongly Loved, 1913) but struggled to find a truly poetic rural language.
2.2 Verse Drama
This style emulated the drama of the Golden Age. Notable playwrights in this line include:
- Eduardo Marquina (1879-1946): Alternated between lyricism and drama. Achieved success with historical dramas like The Daughters of the Cid, Teresa de Jesús, and his most famous work, In Flanders, the Sun Has Set.
- Francisco Villaespesa (1877-1936): Wrote The Citadel of Pearls and Doña María de Padilla.
- Antonio and Manuel Machado: Their most esteemed work is Lola is Going to the Ports.
2.3 Comic Theater
In the early decades of the 20th century, comic theater was the prevailing genre. Notable playwrights include:
- The Álvarez Quintero brothers, Serafín and Joaquín: Brought to the stage topical and sentimental works like The Courtyard, The Happy Genius, and Those of Cain.
- Carlos Arniches: Known for sketches like The Saint’s Day in Cider and Don Quintín the Bitter.
- Pedro Muñoz Seca: Created the astrakhan genre, based on comic misunderstandings and absurdities. A notable work is The Revenge of Don Mendo.
3. The Innovative Theater
Miguel de Unamuno used theater as another way to present the human conflicts that obsessed him. His is a theater of ideas with little dramatic action and dense dialogue, focusing on the inner drama of the characters. Notable works include Fedra (1910) and The Other (1926).
Azorín experimented with late plays characterized by a departure from realism, emphasizing language and scenic simplicity. Notable works include Angelita (1930), about his obsession with time, and The Invisible, his most interesting work, reflecting his anguish over death.
Jacinto Grau wrote a unique, dense, and symbolic theater. He was unsuccessful in Spain but appreciated in Europe. He explored the theme of a rural and pathetic Don Juan in Don Juan de Carillana and offered a personal recreation of the myth in The Mocking Seducer.
In the second generation of the century, Ramón Gómez de la Serna stands out. He wrote The Average Beings (1929). As he said, he was writing for a theater “that will not go to the theater.”
4. The Theater of Valle-Inclán (1866-1936)
The work of Ramón del Valle-Inclán (1866-1936) evolved from a densely lyrical and nostalgic modernism to a unique style he called the “esperpento.” To classify Valle-Inclán’s theater, we can speak of several stages or cycles:
- Decadent Cycle: He joined the so-called Dream Theater with two prose works: Tragedy of Dreams (1903) and Comedy of Dreams (1905). Also noteworthy in this stage are Savage Souls (1908) and The Marquis of Bradomín (1906), partly adapted from his Sonata de Otoño.
- Primitivism Cycle: Violence, cruelty, barbarism, destruction, unleashed passions, and a combination of atavism, superstitions, myths, and magic rites of the countryside are common features in this set of dramas. The author’s personal style develops here, resulting in a particular and extensive prose work with quotations from the works that take on unusual importance. This cycle typically includes: Eagle’s Emblem (1907), Romance of Wolves (1908), Silver Face (1922), and Divine Words (1920).
- Artificial Distancing Cycle (Farces): The Marquise Rosalinda (1912), Farcical Child of the Dragon’s Head (1909), Italian Farce of Love with the King (1920), and Farce and License of the Castilian Queen (1920).
- Esperpento Cycle: Valle-Inclán himself used this term for four of his works: Bohemian Lights (1920, 1924), Don Friolera’s Horns (1921), The Deceased’s Finery (1926), and The Captain’s Daughter (1927).