Spanish Theater in the Early 20th Century: Movements & Figures

Types of Theater in Early 20th-Century Spain

Types of Theater in the Early Twentieth Century

By the early twentieth century, the triumphant theatrical trends of the late nineteenth century continued. The neo-Romantic drama and the realistic theater of Echegaray and Galdós retained great popular support and prevailed despite a renewal among some authors. The commercial theater appealed to the bourgeoisie as a loyal audience and was designed not to provoke: authors of this type of theater did not present major moral conflicts but rather offered more or less friendly arguments aimed at the elegant middle class of the turn of the century. The public showed a preference for manners plays, represented by high comedy or farce (for example, Madrid or Andalusia). Moreover, at this time a trend of evasive poetic drama developed, whose plots were completely divorced from contemporary concerns.

Innovative Minority Theater

Opposite the majority tastes of spectators, there emerged a kind of innovative, minority theater. Its aim was to avoid the vulgarity of commercial theater and to offer new artistic directions.

Authors Who Sought Change

Authors such as Azorín, Unamuno and Valle worked to change the landscape of Spanish theater through symbolic or conceptual arguments, loaded with metaphorical elements.

Impact and Public Reception

The influence exerted by these emerging trends on mainstream theater was almost negligible, because the public still preferred theater for the masses. In addition, theater managers sought immediate economic returns in their programming choices, and it is clear that the innovative theater of the early twentieth century did not attract large audiences. Spectators accustomed to the tragedies by Echegaray lacked the training necessary to understand the new theatrical perspectives.

Key Characteristics

• Commercial theater: Appealed to bourgeois tastes and avoided strong moral conflict.
• High comedy and farce: Popular manners plays reflecting Madrid and Andalusian styles.
• Poetic drama: Plots divorced from contemporary concerns; evasive and lyrical.
• Innovative theater: Minority movement aiming to counteract commercial vulgarity.

Notable Authors

• Azorín
• Unamuno
• Valle

Characters: Don Gay and Don Filiberto

Don Gay: He is portrayed as a follower of Zarathustra. A little haughty and well traveled, he knows much about foreign countries, but he complains at length about the countries he visits and does nothing to change them.

Don Filiberto: He is the editor of El Popular. Apparently sympathetic, he is just as oppressive as his masters. He has no real commitments to anything or anyone, and he likes to be flattered.