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Spanish Political Theatre under Franco, Suarez, and Gonzalez

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2009

Eugène van Erven
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Abstract

In Spain, alone among western nations, political theatre has arguably had a real impact upon the course of social and political change – yet it remains little noticed or assessed in other countries. This article examines the leading Spanish theatre groups which operated first in Franco's declining years, under strict though often incompetent government censorship, then in the period of transition to democracy – and now facing very different challenges under a nominally socialist government. The author. Eugène van Erven, who contributed a study of the popular theatre movement in the Philippines to NTQ 10, focuses in particular on the work of El Joglars (‘The Jesters’) from Barcelona – a company which, under the leadership of Albert Boadella, has been performing almost continuously since 1962. at first subverting the censorship by evolving a style of ‘politicized mime’, then through controversial works on overtly political themes, and more recently in a ‘provocative’ style intended to engage audiences in an active process of questioning the consumerist direction being taken by a democratic Spain.

Type
Research Article
Information
New Theatre Quarterly , Volume 4 , Issue 13 , February 1988 , pp. 32 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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References

Notes and References

1. Interview with Joan Baixas, Barcelona, 8 January 1978.

2. Interview with Paco Obregón, Bilbao, 20 January 1987.

3. Obregón interview.

4. I am grateful to Professor Sam Smiley, formerly of Indiana University, for making me aware of the existence of these groups.

5. See Mozo, Jerónimo López, Teatro de barrio, teatro campesino (Bilbao: Editorial Zero, 1976)Google Scholar, for a detailed description of the teatro de barrio.

6. Interview with Guillermo Heras, Madrid, 15 January 1987.

7. Pipirijaina, Equipo. Tábano: un zumbido que no cesa (Madrid: Editorial Ayuso, 1975), p. 121Google Scholar.

8. The following details are based on information received from Guillermo Heras, who is currently editing an extensive collection of documents on the Teatro Independiente.

9. Baixas interview.

10. Interview with Salvador Távora, Madrid, 18 January 1987.

11. Obregón interview.

12. Egiguren, Ignacio Amestoy, Dona Elvira, Imagínate Euskadi, in Primer Acto, No. 216 (11–12 1986), p. 80–97Google Scholar.

13. Obregón interview.

14. , Socrates, Apology (New York: New American Library, 1956), p. 436Google ScholarPubMed.

15. Heras interview.

16. , Tábano, Castanuela 70, in Primer Acto, No. 125 (1971), p. 46–60Google Scholar.

17. Heras interview.

18. , Tábano, Cambio de tercio (Madrid: Editorial Campus, 1977), p. 9Google Scholar.

19. In Spanish, the verb ‘cantar’ means both ‘to sing’ and ‘to confess’.

20. Interview with Albert Boadella, Vic (Barcelona), 9 January 1987.

21. On 12 March 1975, Glória Rognoni, a long-time actress of the company, fell from this tubular structure and broke her back, leaving her paralyzed.

22. Literally, ‘Civil Guards’, the official name for Franco's hated national police force.

23. Annotated from video excerpts that Albert Boadella kindly showed me on 9 January 1987.

24. Boadella interview.

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid. The shootings in question accompanied the attempted coup of 23 February 1981, staged by Tejero and Milan del Bosch.

27. Ibid.

28. Reconstructed from a video recording of La Toma kindly made available to me by Albert Boadella.

29. Boadella interview.

30. Ibid.

31. Joglars, Els, Olympic Man Movement, in Pipirijaina, No. 21 (03 1982), p. 104Google Scholar.

32. Roller hockey is like ice hockey on roller skates and is extremely popular in Spain. The team from Vic, a town located only a few miles from where Els Joglars lives, plays in the Spanish professional national league.

33. Coterillo, Moíses Perez, one of Spain's most respected theatre critics, referred to the play as a ‘ritus interruptus’, El Público, No. 4 (01 1984), p. 9Google Scholar.

34. Boadella interview.

35. From the Virtuosos de Fontainebleau programme notes.

36. Joglars, Els, Virtuosos de Fontainebleau, documented during the performance in the Teatro Principal of Castellón (Valencia), 11 01 1987Google Scholar. All further quotations are translated annotations from this performance.

37. This is an obvious symbolic reference to the ‘Tamborolo del Bruc’, a legendary Catalan drummer who miraculously succeeded in chasing the French from the Montserrat mountains during Spain's War of Independence.

38. Boadella interview.

39. Ibid.

40. Ibid.

41. Población, Felix, ‘Teledeum: Antes que la cárcel, el exilio’, El Público, No. 27 (12 1985), p. 10Google Scholar.