Spanish Theater in the Silver Age: Key Authors and Movements

Theater in the Silver Age

This stage is characterized primarily by a lack of originality. The most prominent works of the time include the works of Valle-Inclán and Tres sombreros de copa by Miguel Mihura.

Traditional Theater

When studying this period, we distinguish two significant branches. The first is traditional theater, which includes three subgroups:

• Bourgeois Comedy: Highlighted by Jacinto Benavente, who developed a critical naturalism in cosmopolitan and rural environments. His notable work is Vested Interests.
• Poetic Drama: Focused on national history with a strong traditionalist ideology. Key figures include Francisco Villaespesa (Doña María de Padilla) and Eduardo Marquina (In Flanders, the Sun Has Set).
• Comic Theater: Highlights include the brothers Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero, Carlos Arniches (La señorita de Trevélez), and Pedro Muñoz Seca (La venganza de Don Mendo).

Renovating Theater

The second branch is renovating theater, composed of:

• Theater of Ideas: Represented by Miguel de Unamuno with works such as Fedra and El otro.
• Avant-garde Theater: Cultivated by Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Azorín, and Rafael Alberti.
• Poetic Drama: Represented by Alejandro Casona (La sirena varada), which incorporates both social critique (Nuestra Natacha) and symbolism (La dama del alba).

Essential Authors: Valle-Inclán and Lorca

Beyond these two sides, two authors stand out as essential: Valle-Inclán and Federico García Lorca.

Valle-Inclán

Regarded as the most important Spanish dramatist of the 20th century, his work is divided into two stages:

• Mythic Cycle: Includes works such as Comedias bárbaras and Divinas palabras.
• Cycle of Farces: A transition between Modernism and the grotesque, including Farsa italiana de la enamorada del rey and Farsa y licencia de la reina castiza.

His Grotesque style is characterized by the distortion of reality, criticism of the bourgeoisie and institutions, and the use of marginal environments with varied linguistic registers (e.g., Luces de bohemia, Los cuernos de Don Friolera, Las galas del difunto, and La hija del capitán).

Federico García Lorca

Lorca is noted for his farces and puppet theater, as well as avant-garde works like Así que pasen cinco años and El público. However, his most outstanding works are his three tragedies: La casa de Bernarda Alba, Yerma, and Bodas de sangre. These feature the role of women as a symbol of repression, direct yet poetic language, and a popular approach aimed at a total spectacle.