Arthur Miller's Global Theater

The Reception of Miller’s Theater in Spain

114 Antonio R. Celada The Reception of Miller’s Theater in Spain When Arthur Miller’s plays reached Spain in the early 1950s, the Spanish literary scene was still deeply undermined by the effects of the Spanish civil war. The misery and poverty that beset Spain during a long period after the war and the isolation in which it found itself proved to be a great handicap to the survival of the revolutionary theatrical forms introduced in the late 1920s by Valle Inclán and García Lorca. Inclán, Lorca, and Miguel de Unamuno all died in 1936, and Max Aub, Rafael Alberti, and Pedro Salinas went into exile, leaving the Spanish stage practically devoid of talent. Experimental theater, socially committed theater, and modern productions with new settings were seriously restrained for economic reasons. Both commercial and stage-subsidized theaters turned to the so-called escapist comedies (teatro evasivo) to satisfy a public that was still traumatized by the horrors of war.Audiences were largely made up of spectators from the upper classes, since the prices charged for tickets were too expensive for the rest of the population.Thus,at the time,social injustice,exploitation,physical deprivation,or inhuman living conditions did not figure as suitable subject matter for theatrical representation; and the existence of a critical position toward the system or even the slightest questioning of authority was unheard of. Inevitably, the theater was exploited by the regime as a channel for propaganda, which painted a false picture of an untroubled and happy Spain. Within this atmosphere one would think that socially committed foreign playwrights had very little to say to Spanish audiences. But that was not the case. American playwrights, especially Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, enjoyed remarkable success during the 1950s and 1960s. They both sent a breath of fresh air into the stalls of Spanish theaters where vision was, otherwise, extremely conservative. They also offered a new and original way to comprehend the human condition and the relationships formed among different groups. Their innovative style deliberately moved away from convention, and their characters The Reception of Miller’s Theater in Spain 115 were made of flesh and blood. They depicted ordinary people with problems typical of their class, which is why audiences could understand their situations easily. In general, the reception of American theater in Spain has been remarkable, and if we refer specifically to Arthur Miller, some of his plays were received with the greatest enthusiasm. After the signing of the Madrid Agreement (1953), the United States and Spain enjoyed excellent political and social relations and, as a consequence , the ruling classes fostered American influence on various levels of Spanish culture. In many cases, the censorship characteristic of the dictatorship in the 1950s and 1960s showed much greater tolerance toward theater imported from the United States than it did toward its European counterparts and to its own national playwrights.The censorship imposed on Spanish theater was extremely severe, as reflected by the frequent cuts in scripts, occasional cancellations, manipulated translations, and adulterated versions:during the 1940s,for example,documents can be traced that show that about 10 percent of proposed productions were turned down and about 25 percent of those accepted were seriously mutilated. The favorable political climate of mutual understanding that existed between the United States and Spain after the signing of the 1953 treaty generated a feeling of cordiality toward everything American.For at least three decades,Broadway held an irresistible attraction for Spanish theater, which considered it to be a symbol of modernity,prosperity,and progress. From its founding in 1957, Primer Acto, the Spanish magazine devoted to theatrical art, published articles, reviews, and news about American theater .And from the early 1950s to the late 1970s, the names that aroused most interest were Eugene O’Neill, ThorntonWilder, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Edward Albee. Miller was,without doubt,the most admired and successfulAmerican playwright to be performed in Spanish theaters in this period. His plays were seen throughout the country as a prominent testimony of the American way of life.Within Spanish theatrical circles,his work was considered to be a remarkable example of tradition and modernity combined. Spanish audiences were used to conventional and long-established dramatic devices and found Miller’s traditional approach to certain subjects and conventions familiar. However, at the same time, they were receptive to new dramatic forms that they associated with the world of cinema, which they found particularly attractive. From a social point...