Early 20th Century Spanish Theater: Trends and Innovations
Prior to the Theater of 1936
Background
The Theater at the End of the 19th Century
The second half of the nineteenth century is the era of so-called high comedy (a kind of realistic drama set in the salons of high society and used to raise a moral argument). The most significant author was José Echegaray, author of works like “The Great Galeotti”. His neo-romantic drama, written in verse, featured a rhetorical style and outdated themes, completely detached from reality. An attempt at renovating the theater, reflecting contemporary social problems, was led by Joaquín Galdós and Dicenta. In the last years of the nineteenth century, the género chico also appears: short pieces (sketches, interludes, zarzuelas) of comic character, atmosphere, and popular customs themes. Example: “La verbena de la Paloma” by Ricardo de la Vega.
Flows Prior to the Theater of 1936
Public tastes determined the orientation of the theater before 1936. For this reason, there are two major trends: the stage of commercial success and the renovating theater. The theater of commercial success: it is a cómico-costumbrista, melodramatic theater, which shuns ideological approaches and continues the traditional dramatic forms. Renovating theater: a counter to the tastes of the time; the renewal of forms and issues had to wait many years to be valued proportionally. In the line of commercial theater, we can distinguish these three streams:
- Bourgeois comedy (Jacinto Benavente)
- Poetic theater (Francisco Villaespesa)
- Comic theater (Carlos Arniches)
Renovating theater is represented by the figures of Valle-Inclán and García Lorca, the two great dramatists of this period.
Benavente’s Bourgeois Comedy
Jacinto Benavente (Madrid 1866-1954) was the most successful author of the time. His work is characterized by the dominance of scenic resources and skill in the dialogues. Most of his production is set in the environments of the bourgeoisie and upper classes. The critical issue arises as gentle, ironic, and somewhat superficial, addressing defects of bourgeois mores. His most important works are:
- “The Alien Nest”: On the oppressive and discriminatory situation of married women in Spanish society of the time. The work had to be withdrawn shortly after its release due to the boldness of the subject.
- “The Bonds of Interest”, “The Food of Wild Beasts”, “Saturday Night”, “Autumn Roses”: Mild criticism of the conventions and values of bourgeois society.
- “The Bonds of Interest” (1907): His best-known work belongs to the subgenre of dramatic farce. It develops the theme of money through type-characters, from the Italian Commedia dell’Arte, such as Punch and Harlequin.
- “Lady Love” and “The Malquerida”: Dramas of rural environment.
Poetic Drama
Very successful at the beginning of the century, written in verse, with an Art Deco style and musical sound. Its topics were of historical character: the exaltation of big events or characters from the past. The main authors are:
- Francisco Villaespesa, author of titles such as “Doña María de Padilla” or “The Lioness of Castile”.
- Eduardo Marquina, author of historical dramas like “The Daughters of the Cid”.
Also noteworthy are works written in collaboration by the brothers Manuel and Antonio Machado: “Misfortunes of Fortune” or “Juanillo Valcárcel” (starring a bastard son of the Count-Duke de Olivares), “Juan de Mañara” (on the mythical figure of Don Juan), and “La Lola se va a los puertos” (about a singer whose character symbolizes the spirit of traditional Andalusian song).
The Comic Theater
The comic theater presentation is based on types and folkways. The most representative authors are:
- Carlos Arniches, known for his sketches of manners set in real Madrid. Works influenced by the so-called “género chico” are: “La santa de la Isidra” or “El milagro de la moneda”. He then cultivated works called grotesque tragedies, such as “La señorita de Trevélez”, which bind caricature and emotion with a critical attitude towards injustice.
- The brothers Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero, whose theater is identified with the themes and environments of topical and traditional Andalusia. All their works are Andalusian customs boxes with a consistently optimistic and cheerful vision of life. Examples: “El patio” and “El genio alegre”.
- Pedro Muñoz Seca, creator of a comic subgenre, the astrakán, which is based on absurd situations and wordplay as the only means to provoke laughter from the audience. His most famous work, “La venganza de Don Mendo”, parodies neo-romantic and historical dramas of the poetic drama in verse of the century.
Renovating Theater
Miguel de Unamuno raised in his plays, little appreciated by the public, his spiritual and philosophical concerns about the meaning of human life, the problem of personality, identity, etc. With very little external action, the focus is always on the internal conflict experienced by the characters, especially the protagonist. It is a theater of ideas, intellectual rather than of dramatic action. His most important works, “La esfinge”, “Fedra”, and “El otro”, focus on the problem of personality.
Azorín belatedly made some theatrical experiments in the line of the unreal and symbolic, such as “Angelita” and his most important work “Lo invisible” (a trilogy consisting of a prologue and three independent parts).
Jacinto Grau: his new theater aroused interest abroad but failed in Spain. He died in exile in Buenos Aires in 1958. His work, soon extended, is interested in the great myths or literary themes. His most famous work is “El señor de Pigmalión”, a modern version of the famous classical myth.
Among the Generation of ’27 authors, highlights include Pedro Salinas, Rafael Alberti, and Miguel Hernández (“Quién te ha visto y quién te ve”).