Poesía en Voz Alta in the Theater of Mexico by Roni Unger (review)

Book Reviews 245 contribution of the medium will either make them less absurd or less pernicious or even nOI absurd or pernicious at all (294). The reason for this transmutation is that at the deepest level Strindberg is primarily interested not in the ideas of Schopenhauer or Nietzsche or Swedenborg at all, but in exploring the central concerns ofhuman existence through new and wonderful dramatic techniques: Who am I? Why do I exist? What is my goal? Why am I alone? Why is it so difficult to relate to others or to the Other Who is God? All serious students of Strindberg can be grateful for this insight. CHARLES LELAND, ST. MICHAEL' S COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO RONI UNGER. Poesfa en Voz Alta in the Theater of Mexico. Columbia, Missouri and London: University of Missouri Press 1981. Pp. X, 182, illustrated. $18. The Mexican theatre begins at least by the early sixteenth century and, for those who will not distinguish religious worship from theatrical performance, it goes back a good deal farther than that. Such seniority ought to have made it an object of substantial scholarly interest, if not veneration, but - alas - that has not been the case. There was nothing in English concerning the Mexjcan stage beyond a few articles until Rudolfo UsigJi's survey history was recently published in translation by the University of Southern Mississippi Press. Even in Mexico, only a handful of studies exists, the best and most reliable ofwhich are Enrique Olavarrfa y Ferrari's Reseiia historica del teatro en Mexico (1880-94), Luis Reyes de I. Maz.'s EI teatro en Mexico (1959-65), .nd Antonio Magana-Esquivel and Ruth Lamb's Breve historia del teatro en Mexico (1958). It is, therefore, with some enthusiasm and anticipation that one comes to Professor Unger's investigation of such an interesting aspect of Mexican theatre history as Poesia en voz alta. The name means, literany, "Poetry Out Loud" and refers to a group of writers, painters, and other intcUectuals who came together under the auspices of the National University of Mexico in 1956. Led by such outstanding participants as Octavia Paz, Juan Jose Arreola, Juan Soriano, and Leonora Canington. they set out to retrieve - one is almost tempted to say redeem - the Mexican stage from the artistic morass (as they saw it) in which it wallowed in the 1950s: commercial retreads of Broadway hits, uninspired domestic melodramas, and unimaginatively realistic productions. Their plan was to produce poetic drama of the highest quality. To do this, they selected a variety of verse plays from the classical repertory ofSpain from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries, from ancient Greece, modern England and France, as well as from among their own writings - none of which had been seen in modern Mexico before. As if such a startlingly different repertory ofplays were notenough, they also produced them in ways which, while familiar in Europe and America, were unknown in Mexico at that time. The conventions of realism in theatrical fonn and style, so familiar to Mexican audiences and so cordially detested by those in Poesfa en voz alta, disappeared in these productions; claustrophobic box sets with their elaborately painted detail and mechanical bric~a-brac were repJaced with space-staging of platforms, steps, and drapery, in which the actors became the basic scenic elements. To reinforce the centrality of the Book Reviews actor. costumes were designed in a variety of hues, shapes, and qualities without regard for the stage conventions of historical periods or any sort of illusionistic reference. In such costumes and on such settings, the actors were choreographed in slow, fluid movements to underscore the poetic qualities of the texts. Music, composed specially. set the varying moods and rhythms for each play. Here was a revolution in design and execution to rouse even the most lethargic among the audience. Some liked it; some hated it; but almost all found it important in the development of the Mexican theatre. Experimentation was the hallmark of the productions of Poesia en voz alta. At the outset, very few of the participants had much training in the theatre; hence, they labored under few preconceptions or prejudices, and could try techniques and devices...