Spanish Theater from Romanticism to the Late 20th Century

Posted on Sep 21, 2024 in Latin

Romanticism (Late 18th – 19th Centuries)

Romanticism was a cultural and artistic movement that emerged in Germany and England between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and spread rapidly throughout Europe. It represented the beginning of modernity and laid the groundwork for the liberal state ideology of the bourgeois. Its moral characteristics are freedom (social, political, and artistic), subjectivism, historicism, irrationalism, and evasion.

The main themes were freedom, power and justice, the meaning of life, the silence of God, human destiny, and the mysteries of love. In Spain, Romanticism had three stages: 1st (early 19th century), 2nd (1830), and 3rd (Post-Romanticism).

Drama:

• Angel de Saavedra with “Don Alvaro and the Force of Destiny”
• Jose Zorrilla with “Don Juan Tenorio”

Poetry and Lyrics:

• Espronceda with “El Estudiante de Salamanca” and “The Devil’s World”
• Becquer with his “Rhymes”
• Rosalia de Castro with “Galician Songs” and “On the Banks of the Sar”

Prose:

• The historical novel
• Manners and Feuilletons
• Authors like Larra with articles on customs, politics, and literary criticism.

Theater Since the Spanish Civil War

After the war, theater became a form of evasion. The predominance of Post-Civil War theater served two basic functions: to entertain an audience and convey ideology. The church and state censored playwrights. Bourgeois comedy featured perfect construction and its works were characterized by their intranscendence and kindness. They were often divided into acts, with themes of family love and marriage.

Some authors were:

• Jacinto Benavente: “The Last Letter”, “Divorce of Souls”
• Jose Maria Peman: “Truth”
• Luca de Tena: “Don Jose, Pepe y Pepito”
• Calvo Sotelo: “The Wall”
• Lopez Rubio: “The Air of Jealousy”

Post-War Humor:

Two important authors flourished: Enrique Jardiel Poncela and Miguel Mihura.

• Jardiel Poncela: His works featured carelessness and the incorporation of improbable characters, with madness and mystery. He used many characters from a happy society whose objectives were money and love. “Eloise is Beneath an Almond Tree” raises the issue of madness. Other works include “Four Hearts with Brake and Reverse”.
• Mihura: His theater aimed to idealize life through the humanization of characters and the triumph of goodness and humor. He exaggerated elements and distorted logical causality. “Three Top Hats” reflects pessimism and disenchantment. Other works include “Maribel and the Strange Family”.

Theater of Exile

Developed in Mexico and Argentina, it had a different aesthetic cultivation than Spain. The artistic interest of the exiles led the authors to include new avant-garde elements in their works.

• Rafael Alberti: His works were characterized by the presence of poetic elements. “The Eyesore” raises the issue of the intolerance of power. Another work is “The Clover Flower”.
• Max Aub: He began with the theme of charades and brevity, using short scenes and choral characters. His most important work is “San Juan”, a drama. Another is “Mirror of Greed”.
• Alejandro Casona: He produced a theater of evasion. His most important work is “The Lady of the Dawn”, a poetic drama that develops a fantastic story.

Post-Civil War Spanish Theater

• Antonio Buero Vallejo: He sought to create a modern Spanish tragedy. His works are a synthesis of realism and symbolism. He opposed active and contemplative characters, and employed the phenomenon of immersion. His most important work is “Story of a Staircase”, which tells the life of powerless characters unable to overcome their destitution. The theme is social frustration. “In the Burning Darkness” raises the fight for truth and freedom; the central theme is blindness and the need to see. “The Concert at Saint Ovide” is a historical drama set in Madrid and raises the fight for individual freedom. “The Foundation” deals with torture, political persecution, and betrayal. In his later dramas, he explored various forms of torture and highlighted the importance of individual freedom.
• Alfonso Sastre: He incorporated humor into his work, creating a deep black humor that allowed for distancing from the stories. His works constitute a grotesque evolution of Valle-Inclan’s style: they present heroes who are tragic and pursued by a catharsis. “Blood and Ashes” and “The Fantastic Tavern” are examples.
• Jose Martin Recuerda: His work has a documentary character, charged with criticism, tears, and twitches. “The Wild Bridge of San Gil” is a drama that reflects intolerance and hypocrisy, also employing choral characters. “The Beataria of Arrecogidas of Saint Mary of Egypt” captures the scenic conception of total spectacle, seeking communion between the stage and the audience.

Other realist authors are:

• Laura Olmo: “The Shirt”
• Jose Maria Rodriguez Mendez: “The Innocent of Moncloa”, “The Wedding That Was Famous for Rags and Fanganda”
• Carlos Muniz: “Ink”
• Ricardo Rodriguez Buded: “The Den”

The Avant-Garde

They are heirs to the theater of the absurd and the theater of cruelty.

• Fernando Arrabal: His works are characterized by a scenic mentality, resorting to a theater of panic and ceremony. His style is characterized by confusion, humor, terror, euphoria, chance, and the incorporation of surreal elements into the language. His recurring themes are religion, sexuality, politics, love, and death. He blends elements of post-war realism, surrealism, the theater of the absurd, and the theater of cruelty. “Automobile Graveyard” presents a dying society. Other works include “The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria”, “Picnic”, and “The Tomentosa and the Meat Delicacies” (1987).
• Francisco Nieva: His main theme is the repression of society, and he often explores transgression, particularly through sexuality. His works abound with references to a dark Spain and critique religion. They are short plays with cinematic sequences. He distinguishes three genres: angry theater, farce and calamity, and chronicle and printing. “Hair Storm” and “Delusions of Love of the Hostile” are examples.

Symbolists:

Known as new authors, their works are characterized by a marked avant-garde style, pessimism, and frequent use of animal symbols. Themes include oppressive power, sexuality, aggressive language, and violence.

• Jose Ruibal: “The Asking Machine”
• Romero Esteo: “Pontifical”
• Luis Riaza: “Puppy Gift Portrait of a Lady”
• Martinez Mediero: “Last Henhouse”

Heirs of Bourgeois Comedy

These dramas repeat unchanging schemes from the past, with characters detached from the social circumstances of the moment. They seek happiness and romantic love.

• Alfonso Paso
• Jaime de Armiñan
• Ana Diosdado
• Jose Luis Alonso de Santos

Commercial Theater

This type of theater was characterized by a conservative aesthetic, a peculiar elaboration of the show, and an attempt to pioneer self-financing. Examples include:

• Adria Gual
• Joglars
• Els Comediants
• The Tricycle
• La Fura dels Baus
• TEI (Madrid)
• The Goliards
• Horsefly
• The Diritambo
• The Block (Seville)
• Circus Theater (Galicia)

In the late 70s, street theater emerged and paraverbal elements increased. After the transition, this type of theater progressively disappeared.

Latest Dramas (Late 20th Century)

These plays, from the end of the century, feature a moderate formal renewal and a focus on aesthetics. Examples include:

• Jose Sanchis Sinisterra: “Ay, Carmela!”
• Jose Luis Alonso de Santos: “Get off the Moor”
• Fermin Cabal: “Castles in the Air” (1995), “Brown” (1990), “This Fire” (1990)