Calderon and the Comedia Tradition at Newcastle upon Tyne, England

FORUM CALDERÓN AND THE COMEDIA TRADITION AT NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND T. R. A. MASON University of Newcastle upon Tyne The Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne has a tradition dating back some quarter of a century of performing Hispanic drama in the original language. Since 1971, its productions have been able to exploit the resources of the University's excellently equipped Gulbenkian Studio Theatre, with its large open-plan playing area and seating capacity of around 100. The annual play-productions have embraced a wide range of modern Spanish and Latin-American playwrights (Lorca, Mihura, Buero Vallejo, Sastre, Florencio Sánchez, to name but a few), but it is worthy of note that over the last decade, a total of four major productions of Spanish Golden Age comedias have been mounted, and that three of these plays have been by Calderón. The comedia tradition was initiated in the first season that the Gulbenkian Studio Theatre opened with a performance of Tirso de Molina's El burlador de Sevilla (1971). Subsequent seasons saw memorable performances of Calderón's El alcalde de Zalamea (1972) and Casa con dos puertas mala es de guar229 230BCom, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Winter 1982) dar (1974); a permanent record of the latter production survives in the shape of a black-and-white television video recording made on the occasion of the dress rehearsal. For several years afterwards modern plays were performed, but the tercentenary of the death of Calderón was commemorated in 1981 with a splendid performance of the tragedy El pintor de su deshonra, lavishly mounted with professional period costumes, thanks to a subsidy made available by the Spanish Embassy in London. The production in all its aspects was a fully collaborative venture between academic staff (both tenured and emeritus) and students, and represented not merely an artistic triumph, but also a technical and commercial one too. A flattering review appeared in the Courier (the student newspaper of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne), whose theatre critic could have had little previous experience of Spanish Golden Age drama performed in the original language, and as far as possible in accordance with seventeenth-century dramatic conventions. Perhaps the most striking feature of the whole experience was the convincing demonstration of the inherent theatricality of Calderón's art: a fitting tribute to the dramatist in the year of his tercentenary. A SECRETO AGRAVIO, SECRETA VENGANZA (SECRET INJURY, SECRET REVENGE) ANNE M. PASERO Marquette University For the first time ever performed in English in the United States, Calderón's A secreto agravio, secreta venganza (Secret Injury, Secret Revenge) was introduced to the Milwaukee public by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, in a month-long run from April 16 to May 23, 1982. Guest Director Rene Buch, founder of the Repertorio Español based in New York and a leading producer of Spanish-language drama in this country, took advantage of a special invitation from Amlin Gray (Resident Playwright for the Milwaukee company) to direct a work of his choice, opting for one by a personal favorite, the seventeenth-century Spanish dramaturge. Adapted for stage purposes by Gray, who worked from a literal translation provided him by Linda E. Haughton (Spanish Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Calderón's classic — as performed by the Repertory — not only retained all of its original tragic elements, but heightened them dramatically, in an intense and powerful reinterpretation of the traditional love triangle complicated by a rigid honor code. The Repertory version was brought to life for contemporary audiences with the help of set designers Laura Maura and Tim Thomas, who devised a stark metallic grid containing perilous abysses, raised and lighted from below, creating an evocative chiaroscuro effect. Linda Fisher enhanced the confusion by designing costumes whose austerity was only slightly relieved by a touch of burnished gold. Spencer Mosse utilized shifting patterns of light and darkness to signal 231 232BCom, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Winter 1982) changes in locale and mood, and to play on the ambiguity of the situation . By reducing the play's duration to a condensed and uninterrupted ninety minutes, Buch increased...