Spanish Theater Renewal: Post-War to 1970s and Manuel de Pedrolo's Influence

The Renewal of Spanish Theater: Post-War to the 1970s

During the war, the dictatorship imposed its control on Spanish theater. However, during the 1950s and 1960s, Franco's regime began to authorize certain works in local languages that had previously suffered from censorship and restrictions on press and radio advertising.

Regional Theatrical Revival: Barcelona and Valencia

In Barcelona, works like Salvador Espriu's First Story of Esther and those by other contemporary authors were recovered and performed. In Valencia, a bilingual theatrical scene emerged, featuring both Spanish-language theater and popular, humorous drama in Valencian, where comedy sketches were particularly prominent.

Emergence of Independent and Avant-Garde Theater

During the 1960s, independent theater began to emerge in university circles, seeking an audience with a certain cultural level. This new drama followed European trends: avant-garde, surrealist, and absurd theater. The 1970s saw the emergence of groups offering new dramatic techniques such as mime and provocation.

Notable Companies and Playwrights of the Era

Notable theater companies included:

• Joglars, directed by Albert Boadella, known for their epic 'bandit' theater.
• Els Comediants, who specialized in street theater.
• Dagoll Dagom, along with La Fura dels Baus, who created aggressive and powerful 'plastic' imagery.

Key playwrights of this era included: Josep M. Benet i Jornet, Jordi Teixidor, and Rodolf Sirera.

Manuel de Pedrolo's Theatrical Works: Themes and Techniques

Manuel de Pedrolo's body of work is one of the most extensive and varied in contemporary literature. With over one hundred titles, Pedrolo explored virtually all genres and addressed numerous topics and techniques.

Themes of Authenticity, Existence, and Freedom

Between 1958 and 1963, he wrote thirteen plays centered on themes of authenticity, the sense of existence, and freedom. These works, distinct from English theater, employed formal and stylistic techniques to connect them with the so-called Theater of the Absurd. In Cruma, Pedrolo raised the issue of man's authenticity, often unable to communicate with the outside world. Men and Not dealt with the rebellion of a young couple against conformism. Other pieces, such as Situation Bis: Last Version by Now or The Use of the Material, reflected on freedom from a more genuinely social and political perspective.

Circumventing Censorship: Abstract Theater

Arising from the need to present a situation of collective repression, Pedrolo's theater often circumvented Franco's censorship. His plays were stripped of any dialogue references that would allow the audience to locate the action: his pieces had neither geography nor history and shunned anecdotal reproduction of reality. The characters are symbols embodying attitudes that the author explores in extreme situations, from an existentialist approach. Rather than the label of the absurd, Pedrolo preferred to categorize his work as 'theater of the abstract'.