Así pasan…efemérides teatrales 1900–2000 by Moncada Luis Mario (review)

Así pasan…efemérides teatrales 1900–2000, as the title implies, is an exhaustive work that details Mexico’s theatre history over the previous century. Organized in chronological order by decade, the book is more like a series of encyclopedic entries for every month of every year for the past 100 years. With titles like “En tiempos de Don Porfiriato,” “El sainete de la democracia,” or “Víctimas del pecado liberal,” it is clear that the author situates theatre within a broader understanding of national political events. In his entries, Moncada pays close attention to the way the changing political landscape has contributed to or hindered the development of institutions such as the University Center of Theatre (CUT), the Department of Theatre at the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA), the School of Theatre Arts (Escuela de Arte Teatral), and the formation of the National Theatre Company, to name a few. Moreover, the work makes mention of various instances when the political climate resulted in the censoring of what were deemed particularly critical or subversive works. For example, Rodolfo Usigli’s El gesticulador was published in 1938 but not performed until 1943 because of its critique of the Mexican Revolution (173). Similarly, Pilar Campesino’s piece Octubre terminó hace mucho tiempo (1971) had to be performed in the United States because of its critical examination of the still-recent 1968 student massacre (293).

Aside from the political players, Moncada provides detailed information about the spaces, writers, directors, and actors that played fundamental roles in shaping the theatre of their time. Beginning with the Porfiriato, the work details the shift from the patronizing of Spanish zarzuelas or Italian operas to the supporting of a specifically Mexican theatre, which emerged during the Revolution and solidified throughout the first half of the twentieth century. Chronicling the construction and rivalries of famous theaters such as Teatro Principal, Teatro Lírico, Teatro Virginia Fábregas and Teatro Esperanza Iris, Moncada also provides a thorough list of actors of the era—such as Virginia Fábregas, Lupe Rivas Cacho, Mimi Derba, Roberto Soto, María Conesa, Jorge Negrete, Tin Tán, and Cantinflas—who undeniably cemented the growing star-system of theatre performers. While performers appeared to be more of a focal point for theatre during these early decades, in the mid-twentieth century directors and writers took center stage and gave birth to Mexico’s national theatre: Salvador Novo, Rodolfo Usigli, Celestino Gorostiza, Carlos Solórzano, Sergio Magaña, Emilio Carballido, Xavier Villaurrutia, and Xavier Rojas, to name a few.

During the second half of the twentieth century, international theatre movements began to have an impact. With the 1930s and 1940s arrival of Japanese-born Seki Sano, Antonin Artaud, and Brechtian plays, Mexico was introduced to some of these movements. From the 1950s and beyond, with Sano’s translation of Constantin Stanislavski’s seminal work on actor training and the arrival of Alejandro Jodorowsky and his “happenings,” non-Mexican concepts regarding the limits and social purpose of theatre irrevocably influenced the kinds of plays produced in Mexico. Moncada’s thorough listing of produced works makes clear that Edward Albee, Samuel Beckett, and Bertolt Brecht were among the leading foreign playwrights represented on the Mexican stage. Moreover, as Mexico’s political corruption reached an all-time high in the 1980s, the theatre responded with an increasing interest in pushing its boundaries to cope with the reality of Mexican life. Dramaturgs and directors such as Vicente Leñero, Sabina Berman, Nancy Cárdenas, Víctor Hugo Rascón Banda, and Jesusa Rodríguez began to create works that not only questioned Mexico’s socio-political situation, but also re-fashioned the limits of scene design by including non-traditional elements such as video projections and documentary theatre techniques.

Así pasan…efemérides teatrales 1900–2000, despite its exhaustive study of Mexican theatre, is a difficult work to read. The format does not lend itself to a quick search for information unless...