Spanish Drama Before the Civil War: Key Authors
Spanish Drama Before the Civil War
Until 1920, there was no noticeable attempt at stage renewal. Authors of the Generation of ’98 and the Generation of ’27 accomplished a task that would lead to innovative creations that have crossed Spanish dramatic borders. Traditional theater was the most popular in these decades, continuing, in large part, from that of the late 19th century.
Jacinto Benavente and Bourgeois Comedy
Jacinto Benavente represents the high bourgeois comedy. His work is characterized by restraint in the composition of situations and characters and detailed realism in the staging of his plays. His most notable works are The Malquerida and Vested Interests.
Poetic Theater
Poetic theater addresses historical and fantastic themes and employs modernist meters. Its main proponents are Francisco Villaespesa and the Machado brothers.
Comic Theater
In comic theater, the brothers Álvarez Quintero and Carlos Arniches stand out with grotesque tragedy.
Innovative Authors: Valle-Inclán and Lorca
Within the theater that seeks innovation, two key authors stand out: Ramón María del Valle-Inclán and Federico García Lorca.
Ramón María del Valle-Inclán
Ramón María del Valle-Inclán is the most innovative Spanish theater author in the early 20th century. He rejects bourgeois realism, proposing a total renovation of the scene. His greatest achievement is the creation of the *esperpento* (grotesque), a form of social criticism without falling into realism. His production can be divided into three stages:
- Mythic Cycle: Highlights works such as *Comedias Bárbaras*, which are located in a timeless, archaic, and superstitious Galicia, or *Divinas Palabras*, a rural tragicomedy.
- Farce Cycle: Contrasts the sentimental and the grotesque to face reality differently. Highlights works such as *Farsa infantil de la cabeza del dragón* or *La Marquesa Rosalinda*.
- Esperpento Cycle: The most important. Valle-Inclán defines the *esperpento* as a systematic deformation of reality to offer its most grotesque image. This aesthetic coincides with a protest movement against the bourgeoisie, showing its most corrupt aspects. He also deforms idioms, mixing cultured language with vulgar expressions. His use of irony and sarcasm is masterful. This cycle begins with *Luces de Bohemia* (1920), which first defined the *esperpento*. Another work of great importance is *Martes de Carnaval* (1930), which includes three *esperpentos*, one in each play.
Federico García Lorca
Playwright Federico García Lorca is the best-known Spanish playwright abroad. He believes in the power of theater to educate the people. Lorca’s drama is a total spectacle that contributes to the text, the scenery, the music, etc. We differentiate three themes:
- Farce: Fuses the lyrical and the grotesque. Highlights puppet works *Tragicomedia de Don Cristóbal y la Señá Rosita* and *Retablillo de Don Cristóbal*, and two plays for actors: *The Shoemaker’s Prodigious Wife* and *The Love of Don Perlimplín with Belisa in the Garden*.
- Impossible Comedies: Two symbolic, surreal works that are difficult to interpret and represent: *The Public* and *When Five Years Pass*.
- Tragedies with Social Issues: The most important and represented. *Mariana Pineda*, in verse, recreates the figure of the heroine executed for defending freedom. *Blood Wedding* is the tragedy of a bride who is abducted on her wedding day. *Yerma* is the obsession of a barren woman to be a mother and her inner conflict. *The House of Bernarda Alba*, the culmination of his plays, is the drama of two daughters who are subjected to mourning for eight years and only have two options: madness or death.