Spanish Theater Movements: From Benavente to Lorca (1890–1936)
The Theater Before 1936
The Spanish theater landscape before 1936 was divided between traditional, commercially successful works and innovative movements seeking renewal.
1. The Triumphant Traditional Theater
The triumphant theater prevailed in the late 19th century. This era was dominated by bourgeois comedy, which, led by Jacinto Benavente and his followers, offered glimpses of tolerable social criticism.
Jacinto Benavente (1866–1954)
Benavente was known for his “room comedy.” The major exception in his work is Los intereses creados (Vested Interests), his masterpiece. This farce satirizes the environment and characters using the old commedia dell'arte, containing a cynical vision of bourgeois ideals. Benavente also attempted rural drama; his biggest hit was La Malquerida (The Ill-Beloved), which focuses on a devastating incestuous passion. Benavente started a theatrical line that included authors like M. Linares Rivas and G. Martínez Sierra.
Verse Drama and Traditionalism
Verse drama, featuring neo-romantic and formal contributions from Modernism, met a traditionalist ideology. Key authors included Francisco Villaespesa and Eduardo Marquina. The Machado brothers also contributed to verse drama with works such as Juan de Mañara and Lola goes to the ports.
Comic Theater
Comic theater was dominated by traditional customs:
- Álvarez Quintero Brothers: They depicted a topical, sentimental Andalusia without further challenges. Their notable works include El patio, El genio alegre, and Los Galeotes (The Cain).
- Carlos Arniches: Known for Madrid sainetes (one-act farces) set in the local environment, such as La santa de Isidra. He also developed the grotesque tragedy, which offered a deeper observation of customs and a critical attitude toward injustice, seen in plays like Miss de Trevélez and Los caciques.
2. The Theater of Innovation and Renewal
The drive to innovate began with the theatrical experiences of some Noventayochistas (Generation of '98).
Ramón del Valle-Inclán (1866–1936)
Valle-Inclán’s work can be classified into three groups:
- Modern Drama: The wilderness of souls.
- The Mythic Cycle: A more personal style, created from his native Galicia. The mythical cycle culminates with Divinas Palabras.
- Grotesque Cycle (Esperpento): Includes Luces de Bohemia (Lights of Bohemia) and the trilogy Martes de Carnaval (Carnival Tuesday).
The Esperpento is a way of seeing the world that deforms and distorts reality to present the true image that lies behind it. Valle-Inclán uses parody, humanizes objects, and objectifies animals or humans. The characters lack humanity and are shown as puppets and marionettes.
Other authors associated with this early innovative phase include Unamuno, Azorín, and Jacinto Grau.
Federico García Lorca and the Generation of '27
A new pulse of renewal came due to the Vanguard movements and the Generation of '27. Federico García Lorca created a tragic and poetic world. The underlying theme in his work is frustration. Lorca depicts tragic destiny, passions condemned to loneliness or death, and love marked by infertility. His plays feature an abundant female protagonist.
Lorca’s theatrical development:
- Beginnings: Puppets of the Blackjack and Mariana Pineda.
- Surreal Theater: Así que pasen cinco años (So five years passed) and El público (The Public).
- Fulfillment (Plenitude): Two tragedies, two plays, and an unfinished comedy, where women occupy a central position:
- Tragedies: Bodas de sangre (Blood Wedding) and Yerma.
- Plays: Doña Rosita the Spinster or the Language of Flowers and La casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba).
Other authors of the Generation of '27 included Pedro Salinas, Rafael Alberti, Alejandro Casona, and Max Aub.
Comic Restoration in the 1930s
In the 1930s, Enrique Jardiel Poncela attempted to restore comic theater.