Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The challenges of historiography
- 2 Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca and Tirso de Molina
- 3 The world as a stage
- 4 Playing the palace
- 5 The art of the actor, 1565–1833
- 6 Theatrical infrastructures, dramatic production and performance, 1700–1759
- 7 Popular theatre and the Spanish stage, 1737–1798
- 8 Theatre of the elites, neoclassicism and the Enlightenment, 1750–1808
- 9 Actors and agency in the modern era, 1801–2010
- 10 Zarzuela
- 11 Nineteenth-century Spanish theatre
- 12 Copyright, buildings, spaces and the nineteenth-century stage
- 13 Modernism and the avant-garde in fin-de-siècle Barcelona and Madrid
- 14 Continuity and innovation in Spanish theatre, 1900–1936
- 15 Theatrical activities during the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939
- 16 Theatre, colonialism, exile and the Americas
- 17 Theatre under Franco (1939–1975)
- 18 Flamenco
- 19 Nationalism, identity and the theatre across the Spanish state in the democratic era, 1975–2010
- 20 Directors and the Spanish stage, 1823–2010
- 21 This evolution is still ongoing
- 22 Theatre as a process of discovery
- 23 Theatre is the art of the future
- Select bibliography
- Index
23 - Theatre is the art of the future
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The challenges of historiography
- 2 Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca and Tirso de Molina
- 3 The world as a stage
- 4 Playing the palace
- 5 The art of the actor, 1565–1833
- 6 Theatrical infrastructures, dramatic production and performance, 1700–1759
- 7 Popular theatre and the Spanish stage, 1737–1798
- 8 Theatre of the elites, neoclassicism and the Enlightenment, 1750–1808
- 9 Actors and agency in the modern era, 1801–2010
- 10 Zarzuela
- 11 Nineteenth-century Spanish theatre
- 12 Copyright, buildings, spaces and the nineteenth-century stage
- 13 Modernism and the avant-garde in fin-de-siècle Barcelona and Madrid
- 14 Continuity and innovation in Spanish theatre, 1900–1936
- 15 Theatrical activities during the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939
- 16 Theatre, colonialism, exile and the Americas
- 17 Theatre under Franco (1939–1975)
- 18 Flamenco
- 19 Nationalism, identity and the theatre across the Spanish state in the democratic era, 1975–2010
- 20 Directors and the Spanish stage, 1823–2010
- 21 This evolution is still ongoing
- 22 Theatre as a process of discovery
- 23 Theatre is the art of the future
- Select bibliography
- Index
Summary
Are there figures in Spanish theatre history that you feel stand out for any particular reason?
Lope de Vega, [Pedro] Calderón de la Barca, [Ramón María del] Valle-Inclán and [Federico García] Lorca are key figures, not just in Spanish dramatic literature but also Spanish theatre. Each one of them created texts of universal value and of singular and lasting theatrical poetry.
As well as presences, there is a list of absences. In my prior list I could not unfortunately include Cervantes. If his dramaturgy had reached the heights of his narrative – I’m not only thinking of El Quijote [Don Quixote], but also for example El coloquio de los perros [Dialogue of the Dogs] – later Spanish theatre would have been richer in imagination and thought.
Do you think there are ‘types’ of theatre which are more easily exported abroad? Is there a reason for this?
Every day there are more shows conceived for export, particularly to international festivals. Their creators opt for content and form which is instantly accessible whether in Melbourne or Bogota´. In many cases, we are dealing with a rootless and processed theatre, rather than a cosmopolitan theatre.
At the same time, there are still plays and shows that manage to cross borders, languages and traditions because they are able to show us the universality of our condition, the dreams and nightmares of every human being. This explains why La vida es sueño [Life is a Dream] by Calderón, Fuente Ovejuna by Lope or La casa de Bernarda Alba[The House of Bernarda Alba] by Lorca are staged and understood all around the world.
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- A History of Theatre in Spain , pp. 478 - 485Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012