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THE THEATER OF BUERO VALLEJO 1949-1969 ANTONIO BUERO VALLEJO, AFTER TWENTY YEARS of continued success, is generally considered Spain's most important contemporary dramatist . He has confounded those critics who have affirmed that the Spanish theatrical public would not support a serious dramatist, that is, one whose aim was not primarily to entertain his audience. Since the now historic success. of Historia de una escalera (Story of a Staircase) in 1949 flung open the doors of a career as playwright to him, Buero, unlike other popular dramatists, has written slowly and carefully, having had produced only thirteen full-length plays and one one-act play. One or two others remain unproduced, while another has been recently published.1 It would not be amiss at this time to take an overall view of the work of this author who has added a new dimension to contemporary Spanish drama, to examine his works in order to see which are the dominant themes and ideas that have won approval from critics and public alike. What is the purpose of Buero's theater? We are fortunate to have the author's own concise statement in this regard. In reply to the question "What role do you think the theater should play in presentday society?" Buero answered, "It [society] should he reflected and commented upon. In its diverse forms it [the theater] should present, critically and dramatically, the conflicts of man in the society in which he lives: awaken our consciousness of them, hring them into focus with accuracy and truthfulness: combat the errors of evil; open the eyes of others, reveal injustices: show what there is in man that is human and inhuman, and how much of history he carries within himself : and always to achieve true art."2 In keeping with this theory Buero has studied man and his society in many aspects, exploring the supernatural world as well as the concrete, realistic one. Since Buero spent years as a political prisoner as a result of Spain's Civil War, it is natural that some of his chief concerns regard personal1iberty and war. Sometimes his ideas reflect conditions in Spain, but the author's scope in general embraces an area far wider geographically than that of merely his own country. The preoccupation with war is evident in a number of plays. First 1 Mito (libro para una opera), Coleccion teatro no. 580 (Madrid: Escelicer, 1968). 2 "Encuesta," Primer Acto) 29-30 (Dec. 1961-Jan. 1962). pp. 5~6. 366 1971 THE THEATER OF BUERO VALLEJO 367 and foremost, for Buero, war does not offer any solution to man's problems, and is often waged for unimportant reasons. In La tejedora de suenos (The Weaver of Dreams) Penelope lashes out against the stupidity of the Trojan war, "If we lose our husbands in the prime of youth and find ourselves forced to remain before our hearths, simply because one fool robbed another fool of a slut, who is to be blamed for all these ills?" (Act I)] Buero himself, in his commentary on the play, points out that the spectator should reflect upon the drama and the Trojan war and "its possible reenactment in the present period of wars and rumble of wars."3 In Un sonador para un pueblo (A Dreamer tor his People) Esquilache refers to "our stupid war with England." (First Part)] In El tragaluz (The Basement Window ) the action takes place in the twenty-second century, but the audience looks back at the twentieth century, while the two experimenters describe the horrors that took place during that era. It is in Mito (Myth) that war is brought out most graphically on the stage. In the background (presumably on a movie screen) are flashed pictures of hungry and suffering children and adults, dead bodies, concentration camps, and other examples of human misery. Eloy, the central figure, foresees a nuclear war that will destroy all mankind. His only hope lies in the Martians, who will arrive on earth to forestall the holocaust. War, then, for Buero, is a senseless activity that threatens to annihilate man in the future. In Aventura en lo gris (Unhappy Adventure) we find war linked with dictatorship...

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