'Other' Spanish Theatres: Erasure and Inscription on the Twentieth-century Spanish StageThis title challenges established opinions on modern Iberian theatre in considering the roles of contrasting figures and companies who have impacted upon both the practice and the perception of Spanish and European stages. In questioning the primacy of the dramatist, this pioneering study offers a new interpretation of a nation's theatrical culture that has been viewed primarily through the prisms of a select number of playwrights. acknowledging the wide influence of Spanish practitioners on theatre in Europe and the Americas is made in persuasive terms. Through a bold documentation and interrogation of key productions and their reception both at home and abroad, this work focuses on the doing of performance, asking provocative questions around how performances are tested against the texts that remain. alternative readings of a nation's theatrical innovation through the 20th century. The first, Margarita Xirgu (1888-1969), was both muse and mentor to Garcia Lorca; actress, director, pedagogue and activist, she has languished in the shadow of her more famous European contemporaries, Eleanora Duse and Sarah Bernhardt. The second, Enrique Rambal (1889-1956), was an ambitious theatrical polymath and miracle-worker, much admired by Orson Welles, whose influence is still being calibrated. The third, tragedienne Maria Casares (1922-96) feted by Gordon Craig, Genet, Camus, Cocteau, and Koltes, is re-appropriated from the French theatre in which she is habitually viewed through the vectors of exile. actress of the second half of the century, by contrast, remained in Spain, reawakening international interest in Spanish theatre through her extraordinary collaborations with Victor Garc a and Jorge Lavelli. Espert's work was to inspire future generations of practitioners, including the books fifth case study Lluis Pasqual (b.1951), the Catalan co-founder of Barcelonas Teatre Lliure who was to consolidate the place of director's theatre within Spain while bringing an international outlook to the Spanish stage. Barcelona is also the backdrop for the final chapter's protagonists, La Cubana, the company whose trajectory from street theatre to mainstream commercial success offers an insight into the sparkling dynamics of a vibrant post-Franco Catalan performance tradition. |
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actors actress Alberti Alonso Álvarez Anon articulated artistic atre audience backstage Barcelona Bernarda Alba Bodas de sangre Castilian Catalan Cegada de amor centre cinema cited in Rodrigo collaboration Comedia company's contemporary critics Cubana cultural Delgado directed director Divinas palabras Doña Rosita drama dramatist Els Comediants Els Joglars Enrique Rambal España Español Espert and Ordóñez Estrellita exile Federico García Lorca Festival film Franco French Fura dels Baus further details García Lorca Genet's Guansé Jorge Lavelli Josep Juan La Cubana Lavelli Lliure Lluís Pasqual López Madrid Margarita Xirgu Maria María Casares María Guerrero Martínez Milán Monleón musical Nuria Espert opening opera País Paris Pérez de Olaguer performance play political premiered production production's público Puigserver Puigserver's recognised rehearsal Rivas Cherif role Sagarra scene served social space Spain Spanish stage Spanish theatres spectators Teatre Lliure teatro Théâtre theatrical tion tour Valle-Inclán Vanguardia Yerma Zatlin