20th Century Spanish Theater: From Commercial to Avant-Garde
20th Century Spanish Theater
Introduction
The first half of 20th-century Spanish theater, beyond Valle-Inclán and Lorca, often receives negative critical assessment. Theater, as a unique literary genre, requires actors and an audience for completion. Before the Civil War, two distinct trends emerged:
- Commercial Theater: Catering to a bourgeois audience, this trend offered minimal critical or technical innovation, yet dominated the era’s theaters.
- Innovative Theater: This movement sought to introduce new works with critical depth, technical innovation, or both. It largely failed commercially.
Commercial Theater of the Early 20th Century
High Comedy (Benavente)
Benavente’s early works align with the modernist spirit. Aesthetically rooted in realism, they avoided the avant-garde. Ideologically, they offered a superficial critique of bourgeois hypocrisy and conventions, remaining within acceptable and fashionable boundaries.
His plays feature well-constructed drama and spontaneous, conversational language. Notable works include Vested Interests, The Lady of the Camellias, and The Unloved. Martínez Sierra followed in Benavente’s comedic style.
Poetic Drama
Initially aiming to blend drama with lyric poetry, poetic drama became a popular trend. Traditionalist historical theater thrived, recreating national history with sonorous and rhetorical verse. Key figures include Eduardo Marquina (The Daughters of the Cid, Doña María la Brava, El Gran Capitán) and the Machado brothers.
Humorous Drama
Early 20th-century comedic theater tackled lighthearted plots with easy resolutions, featuring amusing, authentic characters with colloquial language. Arniches excelled in sketches and bizarre comedies, notably Miss Trevelez. The Álvarez Quintero brothers (The Darling) and Muñoz Seca (creator of the Astrakhan genre) also stand out.
Scenic Renewal in the First Third of the 20th Century
Authors sought a theater to express religious, existential, and social conflicts. They broke with realistic representation, exemplified by Ramón del Valle-Inclán.
Generation of ’98 and Others
Renewal attempts came from authors of other genres who found theater a space for experimentation.
- Azorín: His symbolic theater includes the trilogy The Invisible.
- Unamuno: Known for intellectual theater, including The Other.
- Jacinto Grau: His symbolic work includes The Lord of Pygmalion.