Spanish Theater Evolution: 1939 to Present
Item 9: The Theater From 1939 Until Today
1. Introduction
At the end of the Spanish Civil War, the two major playwrights of the first third of the century, Valle-Inclán and Lorca, had died, and other established artists went into exile. The Spanish stage began a slow recovery, closely monitored by censorship, which has always been particularly zealous of the theater due to its unique ability to communicate.
2. Dramatic Trends in the Postwar Period
In the 1940s, theater was “national,” at the service of the dictatorship. The triumphant forms were escapist theater, such as bourgeois comedy, and drama with humor. In the late 1940s, realistic theater gained prominence, aiming to denounce social issues, exemplified by Buero Vallejo’s Historia de una Escalera. From the 1970s, a cutting-edge theater emerged with Arrabal and Nieva, influenced by the theater of the absurd and the theater of cruelty. At the end of the 1960s, independent theater became established. As of 1975, contemporary issues, aesthetics, and moderate formal renewal within realism are prevalent.
3. Commercial or Escapist Theater
A. General Features of Escapist Drama
These works, extolling the victors, had two functions: to entertain and to convey an ideology. Bourgeois comedy and drama with humor were prominent.
B. Bourgeois Comedy
Developed as high comedy, it fulfilled the Benaventian role of entertaining and educating. These works contain a moderate dose of criticism, some humor, and a melodramatic tone to exalt the family, marriage, and home. Important authors and works include: José María Pemán’s El Divino Impaciente and Luca de Tena’s Dos Mujeres a las Nueve.
C. The Theater of Humor
This theater presented a radically new and innovative form of comedy. The two most prominent authors in this movement were Enrique Jardiel Poncela and Miguel Mihura.
Enrique Jardiel Poncela’s productions are characterized by the incorporation of the implausible. His characters belong to the bourgeoisie. The society he represents is driven by money and love. His most important works are: Eloísa Está Debajo de un Almendro and Cuatro Corazones con Freno y Marcha Atrás.
Miguel Mihura was the true initiator of the renovation with humorous works such as Tres Sombreros de Copa. Mihura shows his pessimism and disillusionment through total and radical humor, absurd situations, and seemingly senseless, inconceivable dialogues. Other works by Mihura include Ni Pobre ni Rico, Sino Todo lo Contrario.
4. The Theater of Social Realism: Committed Drama
With Historia de una Escalera, the 1950s began a period of theater focused on realistic political commitment and social denunciation. Its main representatives were Buero Vallejo and Alfonso Sastre. Sastre argued that the main mission of art, in the unjust world in which they lived, was to transform it, advocating for a theater or art of “emergency.” This was a theater of social unrest, openly confronting power, where the playwright must prioritize politics over the purpose of art.
Buero Vallejo, in contrast, defended a theater of the “possible”: the author must abide by certain rules and the impositions of censorship so that their works can reach the stage and, from there, fight against injustice. To this end, he used historical or unrealistic situations.
1950s-1960s Theater: Realism and Bourgeois Comedy
Social realist theater continued to be cultivated into the 1960s. It was considered, by some, as the only form responding to the country’s circumstances. In the 1960s, the new bourgeois comedy gained popularity as a form of evasion. Some early works incorporated elements of realistic theater but later evolved into simpler forms whose main themes were the pursuit of happiness and the defense of romantic love. Notable authors include: Alfonso Paso, Jaime de Armiñán, Jaime Salom, and Juan José Alonso Millán.