Spanish Postwar Theater: Trends and Key Playwrights

Spanish Theater in the Postwar Period

The postwar period affected theater much more than other genres. The economic crisis reduced theatrical productions, and censorship limited authors' creativity, prohibiting the display of certain works.

The loss or exile of great masters, like Lorca, Valle-Inclán, or Casona, significantly affected Spanish theater during this era. We distinguish three major trends:

• Bourgeois Theater
• Social Theater
• Experimental Theater

Bourgeois Theater

During the dictatorship, a commercial theater emerged, friendly in tone and intended for a bourgeois public seeking escapist comedy and entertainment.

It was a technically well-resolved theater which, due to censorship, took refuge in absurd humor and wit to develop a very mild criticism of society. Notable authors include:

• Jacinto Benavente
• Miguel Mihura
• Jardiel Poncela

Social Theater

The economic opening of the 1950s, as in other genres, opened the door to a theater of social protest, intending for the viewer to reflect on the society in which they lived.

Unlike bourgeois theater, which dealt with frivolous cases, the themes of this drama revolved around social injustice, poverty, and migration. Its characters were drawn from the disadvantaged classes and often depicted life in poor neighborhoods.

It was a realistic theater, therefore, using direct language and dialogue that portrayed marginal characters. Standouts in this trend include:

• Lauro Olmo
• Antonio Buero Vallejo

Experimental Theater

Since the 1960s, playwrights maintained social criticism but sought new ways of expression.

Thus, under the influence of writers such as Brecht, Ionesco, and Pirandello, an experimental theater emerged, based on absurd and grotesque humor, the presence of dreams, and symbolic criticism.

The works remained critical, but the complaint shifted from the real to the symbolic plane. Therefore, the style of this theater was more sophisticated, and its language was full of metaphors and symbols. Additionally, technical innovations like mime and lighting effects were introduced.

The characters, in contrast to the previous stage, did not represent social classes but human attitudes. The most significant authors of this new trend are Fernando Arrabal and Francisco Nieva.