Catalan Theater: Civil War to Contemporary Era
Catalan Theater: Civil War and Beyond
Theater During the Franco Regime: The Spanish Civil War was a setback for Catalan culture. The Franco regime forbade the use of the Catalan language and suppressed its institutions. Literature in Catalan was developed mainly in exile or underground. Theater was suppressed until 1946, when some performances resumed, though these shows suffered censorship and translation into Catalan was forbidden. Works from the nineteenth century (Guimerà, Pitarra) were performed, along with a few living authors such as Josep M. Segarra and Carles Soldevila. From 1955, the genre began to recover. After the Civil War, local customs were revived.
A drama group formed in Barcelona tried to spread Catalan theater. In 1963, it was banned (the closing). The School of Dramatic Art Adrià Gual took over, and from 1971, it was called the Theatre Institute. In the 60s and 70s, two important groups emerged: The Minstrels and The Comedians.
European Theatrical Currents:
Existentialist Theater: Josep Maria Espinàs continued this trend.
Theater of the Absurd: Joan Brossa continued this trend. It has roots in existentialist drama and surrealism. European authors like Ionesco and Beckett aimed to show absurdity through works without a defined argument, with inconsistent dialogue and minimal scenery. In Catalonia, Joan Brossa and Manuel Pedrolo echoed this style. Its characteristics include the destruction of scenic conventions to show the absurdity of reality. Example: No Document.
American-Influenced Theater: John Oliver continued this trend. Its features include a pessimistic tone that leads to psychological conflicts, reflecting different personalities, passions, desires, and repression of the critical political and social system in America. In conclusion, it evolved, trying not to stray too far from realism and the psychological novel.
Key Figures in Catalan Theater
Joan Brossa (1919-1998)
Joan Brossa (1919-1998): Born in Barcelona, Brossa was a founder of the avant-garde group Dau al Set, made up of artists like Modest Cuixart, Antoni Tàpies, Joan Josep Tharrats, and Arnau Puig. The influence of the avant-garde led him to relate and merge poetry and visual arts, incorporating fields such as music, magic, sculpture, and film. Brossa, who always defined himself as a poet, understood theater as performance poetry. He was very versatile and died in Barcelona in 1998.
His theater (which he called performance poetry) is based on experimentation and the influence of the avant-garde. It is a drama that seeks new languages and aims to show reality expressively and suggestively. It focuses on characters and situations of daily life which develop into the absurd, with seemingly inconsequential dialogues and grotesque situations. His extensive theatrical production (more than three hundred works) had little impact and is quite unknown. Among his works, Salt stresses Gold, Horse, and Above the Bottom Lime and Bricks, which follows the atmosphere of comedy sketches and popular but contrasting with realistic dialogues and monologues of surrealist influence.
John Oliver (1899-1986)
John Oliver (1899-1986): Born in Sabadell, Oliver came from a family of the high bourgeoisie. He studied law but showed an interest in literature at a very young age. He worked for publications such as the newspaper or viewpoint. He joined the group in Sabadell (with Francesc Trabal and Armand Obiols), bound to the avant-garde. The Civil War marked a break in his literary career. Oliver lived in exile (he went into exile in France and Santiago de Chile) from 1948 until he returned to Spain, where he took a militant attitude in fighting the anti-Franco cause. He wrote The Three Branches of Pine.
John Oliver wrote plays, poetry, and prose, although he signed the latter genre with the pseudonym Pere Quart. He died in Barcelona in 1986. The theater of John Oliver suffered the consequences of the postwar situation. Of the theatrical production of John Oliver, perhaps noteworthy are What Happened (a parody on the romantic relationship between Nara, Cain, and Abel) and Hunger (which is currently related to the idea of revolution). After the Civil War, the theater led to psychological comedy, especially in the work The Stolen Ball (in which he reflects on human relationships from three marriages in crisis). John Oliver also brought intense activity as a translator of plays, among his noteworthy translations is a free version of Pygmalion by G.B. Shaw.