Post-War Spanish Theater: Trends and Evolution
Status of Theater: This genre faces constraints, being both literature and performance. It has been subject to the interests of producers who, catering to public taste, often avoid financial risks on aesthetically or ideologically advanced works. Consequently, a distinction arises between commercial theater, focused on entertainment, and theater with broader concerns. Innovative authors often face challenges in gaining recognition.
The Theater of the Post-War Era
The end of the war, along with the death or exile of authors like Valle-Inclán, Lorca, Alberti, and Casona, left a void. Grandmasters were missing, and a bourgeois audience craved trivial amusement. Within commercial theater, a form of high comedy, reminiscent of Benavente, deserves attention. This is the theater that maintained continuity. These comedies, sometimes featuring gentle criticism based on prevailing values, are either drawing-room comedies or thesis plays. Pemán, Luca de Tena, and López Rubio, among others, stand out. Comic drama, often lacking in value, was also prevalent, but it also gave rise to two of the most intriguing figures of the postwar period: Jardiel Poncela and Mihura.
Enrique Jardiel Poncela, despite the limitations imposed on him, created works notable for their innovative approaches and the sparkling wit of their dialogues. *Thieves Are Honest People* and *Four Hearts with Brake and Reverse* are good examples. Miguel Mihura’s first work, *Three Top Hats*, is a marvel of poetic absurdity and humor.
In a different vein, we find a theater deeply concerned with serious human problems. In 1949, Buero Vallejo premiered *Story of a Staircase*, a tragedy of frustrated lives. Shortly after, in 1953, Alfonso Sastre unveiled *Condemned Squad*, a work with an existentialist perspective. This is a serious theater, confronting reality.
The Social Theater
During the 1950s and part of the 1960s, little changed in commercial theater. In comedy, Alfonso Paso was the most prominent figure. In contrast, social drama emerged, theorized primarily by Alfonso Sastre, who, in his book *Drama and Society*, advocated for theater as witness and report. Alongside him, new authors like Carlos Muñiz, Rodríguez Méndez, and Martín Recuerda, among others, emerged. Their works address very specific problems, employing a starkly realistic technique.
Search for New Forms
Well into the 1960s, while some authors and critics continued to champion social realist drama, others sought a renewal of dramatic expression, inspired by contemporary experimental foreign theater. A new scenic avant-garde emerged. Among the new authors were José Ruibal, Francisco Nieva, and others. This new theater remained a form of protest against dictatorship, lack of freedom, dehumanization, etc. The novelty lay in the form: the realistic approach was replaced by symbols and parables, or by astonishing farce. The language incorporated new tones and developed extraverbal resources: audiovisual, tangible, even inspired by magazines, pantomime, and circus. The development of this theater remained challenging. Censorship, coupled with its aesthetic novelty, presented obstacles.
Antonio Gala achieved a fruitful career, ranging from *The Green Fields of Eden* to *Petra Regalada*. After his setbacks in Spain, Fernando Arrabal developed a copious body of work in France, gaining international fame. His works were prohibited in Spain until the change of regime.