Spanish Theater Before 1936: Trends, Authors, and Works
1. Historical and Social Context
The early 20th century was a period of rapid change, marked by evolving cultures, scientific advancements, shifting ideologies, and diverse artistic trends. Several socio-historical phenomena contributed to this transformation:
- The rise and fall of political systems, including totalitarian regimes.
- Revolutionary movements and social unrest.
- The working class’s struggle for recognition.
- The decline of ideologies and the rise of materialism and consumerism.
- Global armed conflicts.
2. Commercial Theater
The Comedy of Jacinto Benavente
Benavente’s early work, influenced by modernism, broke with 19th-century melodrama. He later achieved success with high-brow bourgeois comedies, skillfully employing sophisticated language. His masterpiece, Vested Interests, features characters from the Italian commedia dell’arte and portrays a society driven by self-interest.
Traditionalist Theater
This genre blended romanticism with elements of género chico and zarzuela, featuring short, one-act farces with dialogue and music. It emphasized the picturesque qualities of Spanish regions, created stereotypical characters, and used colloquial, humorous language with a conservative tone.
Carlos Arniches, known for his comic sketches and depictions of Madrid customs, created authentic characters who spoke in a colorful, exaggerated style.
Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero wrote numerous plays, sketches, and comedies set in an idealized Andalusia.
Pedro Muñoz Seca specialized in astrakhan, a vaudeville-style genre blending humor and lighthearted plots.
Poetic Drama
This verse drama, influenced by modernism, featured historical themes and ideological conservatism, often evoking nostalgia for the past. Its rhetorical style earned it the label “poetic.” Notable authors include Eduardo Marquina, Francisco Villaespesa, Manuel and Antonio Machado (who collaborated on plays like La Lola se va a los puertos), and José María Pemán, who continued this style after the Civil War.
3. Theatrical Renewal
98 Authors: Unamuno and Azorín
Miguel de Unamuno’s plays, like his novels and poems, explored existential conflicts with minimal ornamentation and detailed stage directions. A prime example is The World’s a Stage.
Azorín created pieces like Angelita.
Other Renewing Authors: Alberti, Max Aub, Alejandro Casona
Rafael Alberti’s theater reflected his poetic concerns. His avant-garde period includes The Crippled Man, and in exile, he wrote Nuisance.
Max Aub began with avant-garde works like A Mirror Outside and The Avarice of the Avant-Garde.
Alejandro Casona created a poetic, stylish, and mysterious reality. His best work was written in exile, including Suicide Prohibited in Spring.
4. The Great Creators
Valle-Inclán: The Radical Renewal of Theatrical Language
Valle-Inclán’s originality, radical approach, rich language, and unique themes and aesthetics initially led to his plays being primarily read rather than performed. Today, he is recognized as a visionary playwright. His work, once considered “novels in dialogue form,” is now appreciated as innovative theater.
Features of Valle-Inclán’s Expressionist Theater:
- Rejection of realism and creation of a fantastical world.
- Absurdity as a sign of the break with realism.
- New character construction and dramatic perspective.
Absurdism
Absurdism presents a distorted view of reality to reveal the truth hidden beneath the surface. It blends tragedy and burlesque, aiming to transcend both pain and laughter. Key elements include the normalization of the unusual, the presence of death, personification, puppet-like characters, violent and sarcastic language, and formal freedom.
Valle-Inclán’s Theatrical Cycles:
- Legendary Cycle (“Silver Face”): Set in a superstitious and amoral Galicia, filled with intense passions, mystery, and death.
- Farce Cycle: Contrasts sentimentality and the grotesque to confront reality.
- Absurdity Cycle: Beginning with Bohemian Lights, this cycle theorizes absurdity and critiques bourgeois values. It follows Max Estrella through the streets of Madrid to his death.
Lorca: Themes and Theatrical Language
Lorca, Spain’s most internationally renowned playwright, believed theater should raise social awareness and that poets could transform reality with words. His plays incorporated music, dance, and other elements.
A dominant theme is the conflict between the individual (driven by desire, love, and freedom) and authority (representing order, tradition, and social conventions). Female characters often play central roles.
Lorca’s Work: Classification
- Farces: Four plays (two puppet shows and two for actors) explore themes of marriage of convenience and age differences, blending lyricism and the grotesque.
- Impossible Comedies: Two symbolic and surreal works, The Public and Thus Five Years Pass, are challenging to interpret and stage.
- Tragedies of Social Issues: Lorca’s most frequently performed plays. Blood Wedding, based on a true event, depicts a bride kidnapped by a former lover on her wedding day. The House of Bernarda Alba portrays the drama of women in rural Spain, confined by an eight-year mourning period imposed by Bernarda after her husband’s death.