Galician Theater's Modern Turn: The Legacy of Generation Nós

Theatrical Innovations of Generation Nós

The Generation Nós (Our Generation) did not primarily use theater as a political weapon or didactic tool. Instead, they provided an extraordinary impulse from a literary perspective, integrating Galician theater into European currents. With them came the first symbolist and surrealist elements, surpassing the previous realism. From then on, their works featured not only Galician peasants and landowners, but also knights and princesses, toads, kegs, cliffs, the saints of the Portico of Glory, ghosts, and more.

1. Vicente Risco: Symbolist Drama

Vicente Risco wrote a single play, The Jester of the King, a symbolist drama that explores physical and moral deformity.

2. Ramón Otero Pedrayo: Extensive Dramatic Works

Ramón Otero Pedrayo wrote an extensive body of theatrical work, among which we can highlight The Mill (1928) and Mask Theatre. His dramatic works are often more suitable for reading than for stage performance.

The Mill (1928)

The Mill (1928) is a Dionysian tragedy with a rural background, evoking the demonic power of wine. The dominant forces in the drama are primitive and fundamental. The characters are popular figures: peasants, vintners, priests, depicted with a naturalistic perspective. As a poetic counterpoint, several scenes feature lyrical and fantastic elements, where characters include the pipes in the cellar, the shadow of a deceased muleteer, or mountain fairies.

Mask Theatre (1934/1975)

Mask Theatre (written in 1934 and published in 1975) comprises 16 pieces in the form of scripts or schematic sketches for drama. Their character is sketchy and incomplete, compatible with a very modern and dramatic theatrical design that transcends traditional text. These are works that only achieve their fullness and naturalness through staging and performance.

3. Castelao: Theater as Global Spectacle

Castelao debuted in 1941 (in exile, Buenos Aires) with The Old Have Begun to Fall in Love, a play he had begun many years prior.

He envisioned theater not merely as a text, but as a global spectacle, emphasizing significant scenographic elements (lighting, character masks, etc.) and incorporating other arts, such as music.

The theme of the old passionate man repeats three times in three different versions, across three acts. In each, there is an old lover, a young woman, and a young rival. Death acts as a character, alerting the older men. The play concludes with an epilogue where the three old men, deceased, appear together in the cemetery, having repented and reconciled with the new relationships of their beloved young women.

4. Rafael Dieste: Avant-Garde and Identity

Rafael Dieste is considered the playwright of the 20th-century avant-garde within the Generation Nós. Baldeira Window (1927) is a comedy exploring symbolic identity, both individual and collective.

A sailor, enriched by emigration, commissions a portrait in front of a window. The artist wishes to use a humble landscape, visible through the window, as a background, symbolizing the sailor's past. His wife and daughter oppose this. Thus, the 'empty window' (baldeira window) emerges as a symbol of the cancellation of individual and collective identity. Ultimately, the conflict is resolved by accepting the reality of their humble past.