Spanish Drama: Its Place in World Literature: A Review Essay

SPANISH DRAMA: ITS PLACE IN WORLD LITERATURE A Review Essay JOHN DOWLING University of Georgia The Hispanic literatures, and particularly that of Peninsular Spain, possess one of the great bodies of dramatic literature in the world; and the drama of the Spanish Golden Age is without question the most abundant ever created in a similar space of time in proportion to the population and the potential theater public. The quality is of a high order. Four writers—Lope, Tirso, Alarcón, and Calderón—are of the first magnitude. In the quality of their artistic creation and in intellectual stature they hold their own with the foremost dramatists of other literatures. In short, Spain has in the Golden Age comedia a body of dramatic literature which rivals ancient Greek drama, Elizabethan drama, or French classical drama. Yet critics and historians of world theater remain almost resolutely ignorant of Spanish drama of any period. Why? A review by a Hispanist of a recent book may lead us to some answers. The Encyclopedia of World'Theater, ed. Martin Esslin (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, /1977/) is, according to a note on the back of the title page,«based on Friedrichs Theaterlexicon by Karl Gröning and Werner Kliess, edited by Henning Rischbieter; this English-language edition has been translated by Estella Schmid, and adapted and amplified under the general editorship of Martin Esslin.» The original was, in fact, issued in 1969 by the firm Friedrich Verlag of Hannover, and the scene designer Karl Gröning (born 1897) is given as the main author. From the 1930's to the 1960's Gröning occasionally created set designs for productions of plays by Lope, Moreto, and Lorca. The English version was recently offered as a bonus by the Reader's Subscription, and Esslin's name further commends it to American readers. It is undoubtedly finding its way into private, college, and public libraries, so that the picture it conveys of Spanish drama and theater is of concern to Hispanists and especially to those of us with specialties in drama. The picture 93 94Bulletin ofthe Comedianles is, alas, drab. What will students of drama find out about Hispanic drama and theater when they consult this book? In the entry on SPAIN (I follow the typography of the volume and use all capitals to indicate reference to a main heading), the medieval theater is covered in this sentence: «From the thirteenth century onward there was religious drama.» The Renaissance theater is treated less laconically, and the separate entries on individual playwrights give it fair coverage: ENCINA, ROJAS , TORRES NAHARRO, GIL VICENTE, LOPE DE RUEDA, GUILLEN DE CASTRO, and CERVANTES. In proportion to its significance, the Golden Age gets short shrift. Besides the famous four, only MORETO merits an entry, and no other playwright is even mentioned in the entry on SPAIN. The situation is worse for the two centuries between CALDERÓN and BENAVENTE; only one author has a separate entry, ECHEGARAY. Buried in the entry on SPAIN is the statement : «From c. 1830 romantic drama, influenced by HUGO, reached its zenith with Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla, 1844.» This is all that is said about the play that was most widely performed in the Hispanic world for over a century, nor is it or its author named in the separate entry DON JUAN, which does, however, begin with TIRSO'S El burlador de Sevilla. Moratín, technically the most influential dramatist between CALDERÓN and BENAVENTE, is nowhere mentioned. The early twentieth century gets a reasonable, though select, treatment. There are entries for BENAVENTE, the QUINTERO brothers, UNAMUNO, and VALLE-INCLAN. From a later group, the encyclopedia lists LORCA, CASONA, and ALBERTI. The volume includes scene designers; hence, DALI and PICASSO have entries. Both are identified as Spanish, but only DALI's work with LORCA's Mariana Pineda and PICASSO's relations with Manuel de Falla pertain to Spanish theater. The entries and omissions of the post-Civil War theater are curious. In a book edited by Esslin, we would expect to find ARRABAL, and he enjoys an entry. In fact, with five and one-half column inches, his entry is surpassed...