Modernist Voices in Catalan Drama: Iglesias, Puig i Ferreter, Rusiñol

Ignacio Iglesias: Social Drama and Freedom

Ignacio Iglesias was one of the most important playwrights of the first generation of Catalan Modernism. His social dramas championed the right to freedom in shaping individual destiny. The work of Iglesias received international recognition and was translated into several languages.

Joan Puig i Ferreter: Social & Moral Reflection

Joan Puig i Ferreter's theatrical productions and novels addressed issues of social and moral reflection. For Puig i Ferreter, the figure of the artist embodied the highest values of humanity's genius and seer.

Key Dramas by Puig i Ferreter

• The Cheerful Lady (1904)
• The Lady Love (1908)
• Enchanted Waters (1908)
• The Great Alejo (1912)

Synopsis of Enchanted Waters (1908)

This play depicts a terrible drought plaguing Poblete, a village in the province of Tarragona, condemning its residents to poverty. An engineer investigates the desolate terrain and discovers an underground water source near the village. However, what could become a source of wealth remains untouchable due to popular superstition and religious devotions. The confrontation between partisans of scientific progress and the defenders of secular tradition takes on bloody proportions, obliging the stranger to flee the village.

Santiago Rusiñol: Painter, Novelist, Playwright

Santiago Rusiñol's contribution to the Modernist scene is integral to his work in revitalizing culture as a painter and novelist. His theatrical productions ranged from early works of a symbolist nature to later works more committed to social protest.

Evolution of Rusiñol's Theater

Early symbolist plays include:

• The Joy That Passes
• Cigales and Ants

These early works defended a society that sought to remain outside material affairs and social demands, dedicated instead to living in beauty. This aestheticism, when preached by artists, aimed to guide an elected minority of society. However, it did not reproduce the typical Modernist clash between artist and society.

Later works, more focused on social protest, include:

• The Hero
• The Senior's Storybook Day (a significant re-elaboration of his novel of the same title from 1907)

Rusiñol's more recent works replaced symbolic landscapes and ideal scenarios with more realistic settings. The characters became more real in their struggles and provocations.