20th Century Spanish Theater: From Benavente to Valle-Inclán
20th Century Spanish Theater
Early 20th Century Theater
The theater before the Civil War had been stagnant and limited. The successful commercial theater followed several trends. Galdós introduced naturalism, portraying real environments and controversial issues. Jacinto Benavente shaped the new writing style with works featuring minimal conflict and witty dialogue. He wrote comedies and highlighted the struggles of the unloved bourgeois. Costumbrista comedies, poetic drama, and astracán theater also thrived.
Notable playwrights of this era include Carlos Arniches (La señorita de Trevélez) and the Álvarez Quintero brothers (Mariquilla terremoto). The astracán genre, characterized by comical absurdity, was popularized by Muñoz Seca (La venganza de Don Mendo). In poetic drama with modernist influences, Eduardo Marquina’s En Flandes se ha puesto el sol stands out.
The Generation of ’98 and ’27
Some theatrical works were written as a form of protest by authors of the Generation of ’98. Unamuno and Grau explored philosophical themes in plays like El otro and Mr. de Pigmalión. Gómez de la Serna, meanwhile, wrote Los medios seres, a play exploring the complexities of human existence.
The Generation of ’27 brought theater to the people. Federico García Lorca’s La casa de Bernarda Alba is a prime example. Other authors such as Rafael Alberti and Miguel Hernández also contributed to this movement. Noteworthy plays include Alejandro Casona’s La dama del alba and Max Aub’s San Juan.
Lorca and Valle-Inclán
Lorca
The two most important playwrights of this period were Lorca and Valle-Inclán. Lorca’s early stage was devoted to poetic drama, where the theme is the struggle between the individual and authority, with an emphasis on female characters. He explored various genres, always prioritizing the artistic merit of his theatrical work over commercial success.
His lyrical drama (Mariana Pineda) and surrealist theater (El público) are noteworthy. His major works include the “Rural Trilogy,” which deals with sexual and social issues, often featuring women as protagonists. Bodas de sangre depicts a tragic love triangle with a fatal ending. Yerma explores the drama of a sterile woman, and La casa de Bernarda Alba focuses on the restricted lives of women in a patriarchal society.
Valle-Inclán
Valle-Inclán was a playwright ahead of his time in terms of originality and critical perspective, which led to his plays being initially marginalized. He began with idealized modernism in works like El marqués de Bradomín. He then embarked on a cycle starting with the mythical comedies of Barbarie, a trilogy set in archaic societies. The cycle concludes with Divinas palabras.
His significant innovation was the esperpento, a genre that denounces social situations and grotesque characters, often portrayed as puppets controlled by the author. Notable esperpentos include Tirano Banderas and Luces de Bohemia, which depicts the last night of the bohemian poet Max Estrella.
Buero Vallejo
Existential and Historical Dramas
Antonio Buero Vallejo’s work often features universal themes, defending freedom and truth through allegorical conflicts. He uses tragedy to provoke catharsis in the viewer, suggesting that after experiencing emotional release, individuals can shape their own destiny. Stage directions are particularly important in his plays.
His existential drama Historia de una escalera portrays the stagnant lives of three generations in a rundown apartment building. His historical dramas, such as Un soñador para un pueblo, often serve as social critiques. Tragedies of characters whose limitations symbolize human limitations in facing reality are also frequent, as seen in La Fundación.
La Fundación
La Fundación tells the story of five political prisoners sentenced to death, one of whom was the informer. To cope with their grim reality, the informer creates a fictional “foundation” in his mind, a place of work and study, to shield himself and the others from the truth. The play explores the themes of reality versus fiction, born from the rejection of the outside world.
The play’s authentic meaning lies in this fabricated reality: the author suggests that we must remove the veils of oppression and lies to understand that we are always, in a sense, imprisoned. Other themes include empathy for those who cannot respond freely under threat or torture, the human capacity to overcome adversity, and the importance of love and friendship. The play also serves as a critique of social injustices, including the death penalty.
Dramatic Structure and Techniques
Buero Vallejo divided the play into two parts, reflecting the psychological processes of overcoming the imaginary world and escaping the prison. Elements of the set design reflect these changes as the characters make discoveries. Other notable structural aspects include the in medias res beginning and the circular structure, emphasized by the repetition of Rossini’s music.
A key dramatic technique is the “immersion effect.” The viewer only knows the reality as the protagonist discovers it, initially accepting the deceptive world but eventually understanding the truth alongside the protagonist. Lengthy stage directions are crucial for staging and understanding the play’s evolution. The presence of painting as an imitation of nature is also significant.
Buero Vallejo’s personal use of classical tragedy aims to evoke catharsis through audience identification with the characters. The open ending, circular structure, and the characters’ individual journeys are notable features. Tomás, the protagonist, is the most developed character, driving the action and experiencing the hallucination. The other characters have distinct but complementary roles.
Time and Space
While written shortly after the end of Franco’s dictatorship, the play’s setting is not explicitly specified, aiming to universalize its message. The play begins in medias res. Time is continuous, suggesting that time is an illusion and the future is predetermined. The setting transcends any specific location, making the play applicable to any place where persecution occurs.