Spanish Postwar Theater: Eras of Innovation & Protest

Postwar Spanish Theater: An Introduction

The postwar Spanish theater catered to a bourgeois public of questionable taste. Ideological constraints were compounded by strict censorship, shaping the dramatic landscape of the era.

The Commercial Theater Landscape

High Comedy Theater

• This genre often criticized the customs of the bourgeoisie.
• It frequently defended traditional Francoist spirituality.
• Authors: Pema, Luca de Tena, Calvo Sotelo.

Comic Theater

• Authors: Jardiel Poncela (_Eloísa está debajo de un almendro_), Miguel Mihura.

The Renovating Theater Movement

Renovating Comic Theater

• Author: Miguel Mihura: _Tres sombreros de copa_, _Melocotón en almíbar_. (His corrosive critical power diminished over time.)

Existential Drama: Maverick & Concerned Voices

• Key Dates: 1949 saw the premieres of Antonio Buero Vallejo's _Historia de una escalera_ and Alfonso Sastre's _Escuadra hacia la muerte_.
• This dramatic trend reflected the existential concerns of the time.
• Themes included existential anxiety, leading to a focus on social drama post-1955.

Realistic Theater of Protest & Denunciation

• A new public emerged, primarily university youth.
• Relaxation of censorship fostered a social realist conception.
• Key Issues: Social injustice and alienation from society.
• Authors adopted an attitude of protest.
• Utilized expressionist symbolism to depict reality.
• Authors:
  • Alfonso Sastre:
    • Championed social realism with sweeping assertions.
    • Advocated for tragic theater of protest aimed at social change.
    • Notable work: _Escuadra hacia la muerte_.
    • Stages of his work:
      • 1. Dramas of Frustration: An individual overwhelmed by an unjust society.
      • 2. Possibility Dramas: Distancing social realism gains relevance.
      • 3. Complex Tragedies.
  • Lauro Olmo, Carlos Muñiz, Antonio Buero Vallejo:
    • Denied the existence of blind fate, asserting that everything has a cause and a potential remedy.
    • Developed a versatile theater, combining ambiguity with purity, achieving both critical and popular success.
    • Stages of Buero Vallejo's work:
      • 1. Traditional Symbolic Realism: _Historia de una escalera_.
      • 2. Story of a Town Full of Destiny in an Unjust Society: _El tragaluz_.
      • 3. Immersion: Stories told from a character's point of view, e.g., _La Fundación_.
• Antonio Gala: _La pasión turca_, _Anillos para una dama_.

The Experimental Theater Movement

• This movement sought to overcome the assimilation of realism and integrate experimental theater of the absurd from abroad.
• Though hit by censorship, this theater boldly moved away from conventional scenarios, often performing in underground spaces.
• Authors:
  • Fernando Arrabal:
    • Cultivated the Theater of the Absurd and "Panic Theater," combining the absurd with the cruel and ironic.
    • Identified art with live acts and adopted ceremony as a form of expression.
    • Notable works: _Pic-Nic_, _El cementerio de automóviles_.
  • Francisco Nieva:
    • Created "Theater of Fury," characterized by freedom of imagination, bordering on the surreal, and intense expressive power.
    • Notable work: _Pelo de tormenta_.
    • Employed an archaic, popular, and cult style, marked by irony, wit, and lexical brilliance.
    • Addressed the issue of societal repression that degrades humanity and prevents its development.
    • His theater was cathartic and liberating.

Independent Theater & Collective Creation

• Characterized by protest and complaint, often using symbolic and stark imagery.
• Employed farce, the grotesque, and distorted representations.
• Sought new forms of dramatic expression, often through collective creation.
• Key Groups: Els Joglars, Dagoll Dagom, El Tricicle, La Fura dels Baus.