Spanish Underground Drama

by George E. Wellwarth

Dr. Wellwarth's study is an account of the remarkable and extensive dramatic writing that has come from Spain since Buero-Vallejo's Story of a Staircase was first produced in 1950. For political reasons, almost all the plays discussed here remain both unproduced and unpublished in Spain and exist only in manuscript form, thus the appellation "underground" drama. Both descriptive and introductory, this book confines itself to the truly "underground" authors, and does not cover such writers as Antonio Buero-Vallejo, Alfonso Sastre, Carlos Muñiz, and Lauro Olmo who, although clearly belonging to the movement, are already known to the English speaking world. Since most of the dramas dealt with here are distinguished by their political slant, the few that have actually been produced in Spain have either appeared in a sharply censored form or have been licensed by the Spanish government for a single performance only. It is the author's sincere hope that in the near future the "underground" will become a thing of the past and that these gifted Spanish playwrights will be internationally recognized and their plays openly produced.

Hardcover

First published October 1, 1990