THE 1 IMMERSION TECHNIQUE' IN THE THEATRE OF ANTONIO BUERO VALLEJO: THE EXPRESSION OF THEME THROUGH SCENOGRAPHIC INNOVATION AND EXPERIMENTATION
A Thesis
Presented In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree Master of Theatre In the Graduate School of the Ohio State University
by John B. Connor, M.A.
* * * * *
The Ohio State University
1995
Master/s Examination Conmlttee: Approved by Esther Beth Sullivan Alan Woods ls Department of Theatre VITA
May 21 , 1961 • Born - Nelsonville, Ohio 1984 • . • • . B.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1988 . . . . • . . . . • . . . . . • M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
FIELDS OF STUDY
Major Field: Theatre Studies in: Theatre History, Literature and Criticism; Spanish and French Literature and Linguistics
i i TABLE OF CONTENTS
VITA i i LIST OF FIGURES iv LIST OF PLATES . . v
INTRODUCTION . 1 CHAPTER PAGE
I. BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND 14
II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE "IMMERSION TECHNIQUE" . 29 Development of Style ...... •. 30 The "Immersion Technique" ..•..•. 38
III. THE "IMMERSION TECHNIQUE" AND THEMATIC EXPRESSION 58 Philosophical Basis •..•..••..•. 60 Textual-Literary
CONCLUSION • . 138
BIBLIOGRAPHY . 142
111 LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURES PAGE 1. Predominant Themes in the Theatre of Antonio Buero Vallejo. 82 2. The "Immersion Technique"--Thematlc Reconceptualization •. 84 3. Ability of Sub-Theme to Concurrently Affect More than One Sub-Theme . . • . . • • . • ...... 86
iv LIST OF PLATES
PLATE PAGE I. Goya y Lucientes, Francisco de. El sueno de la razon produce monstruos CThe Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters] Number 43 in series of aquatints named "Los caprichos" 46
I I. Goya y Lucientes, Francisco de. Saturno devorando a su hi.io [Saturn Devouring His Son, or Saturn] Prado Museum, Madrid .•.••. 51
III. Velazquez de Silva, Diego. Las menirias CThe Ladies-in-Waiting, or The Matrons of HonorJ Prado Museum, Madrid . . • • . • . . . • • 95 IV. Velazquez de Sliva, Diego. La tabula de Palas v Aracne CThe Fable of Palas and Arachnel conmonly known as "Las hilanderas" ["The Spl nners" or "The Weavers" J Prado Museum, Madr l d . • • • . . . . 112
v INTRODUCTION
The career of Antonio Buero Vallejo' is to Spanish theatre what those of his contemporaries Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams are to the theatre of the United States. Like Miller, Buero draws his characters from the pool of everyday life, and depicts them in familial settings in conflict with one another and with society at large. Many of Buero's early dramatic efforts bear a striking resemblance to All My Sons. On the other hand, many of Buero's later plays center around fictional or historic characters pulled from the past, whose social conflicts directly correlate to societal conditions of the present. These allegorical plays are structured thematically along the lines of Ibe Crucible. Like Williams, Buero's writing style at f lrst glance reflects the continuation of the Ibsenian tradition: realism mixed with traces of neo-symbollsm. Buero creates complex tragic characters whose fatal flaw ls self-deception, whose Identity ls a self-deluded construct which eventually ls exposed through the course of the play. Like Williams, too, Buero's characters are intrinsically connected to the past, haunted by events which they must ultimately confront. Most noticeably, Buero relies heavily on theatrical effects, such as fragnentary settings, to underscore the psychological turmoils of his characters. Above all, like both
1 2
Williams and Miller, in his twenty-seven plays Buero explores contemporary societal issues which confront and are collectively shared by the members of his audience. Yet, whereas Spanish theatergoers are certainly familiar with the major works of these American playwrights, American audiences, for the most part, have never heard of Buero, Spain 1 s most celebrated playwright of the second half of the twentieth century. The Spanish critic Ricardo Domenech argues that Buero/s concentration on Spain as the principal thematic component in his plays renders them nearly unintelligible outside of Spain. This is an arguable position. Indeed, Buero--like Goya, Velazquez, Larra and the rest of the gallery of Spanish visionaries brought to life in his plays--addresses specifically Spanish situations by focusing on specifically Spanish figures, but he does so to elucidate general 11 truths 11 and to expose universal "lies. 11 Buero;s body of work stands as testament to the force of will confronted by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, a situation which is decidedly not specifically Spanish. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that Buero belongs in the pantheon of twentieth-century playwrights. Like his contemporary American playwrights, Buero focuses on moral and ethical choices made by conflicted characters as they struggle with life in the twentieth century. He differs, however, by implementing scenographic elements which metaphorically allude to the underlying themes he is exploring. Scenographic resourcefulness is the hallmark of Buerian dramaturgy. This study explores the unarguably static thematic content of Buero•s 3 plays, but does so not by focusing on his dramatic craftmanship so much as on his scenographic experimentation, in order to demonstrate his innovative, highly theatrlcallzed approach to conveying Information to his audience. This study will provide a brief biography of Buero, focusing on those elements of his early years which presage the direction and development of his later dramaturgy. Furthermore, it will highlight the fundamental body of themes which underly all of his works, but will focus on the increasing Importance Buero places on scenography as a means of expressing his thematic content across the traJectory of his plays. It will affirm that since the thematic unit In Buerlan theatre ls so overwhelmingly static, his reliance on scenographlc technique is essential In order to circumvent claims that his plays are merely endless restatements of vlrtual"ly the same Idea. It will provide examples of how Buero's expression of theme evolves throughout his career by placing special attention on the changing dynamics among themes through distinct periods In his career. There are several reasons why this study ls significant for theatre scholarship in America. There ls very little criticism in English on Buero; this thesis serves to fill that void by presenting a study on Buerian dramaturgy that ls not only in English but also for English speakers. In addition, this study ls beneficial for American directors and playwrights, who can take advantage of how Buero manipulates thematic information through imaginative and inexhaustive scenographlc exploration. This study also depicts how Buero subcategorizes his themes by demonstrating in schematic representation how the thematic pieces are reconceptualized and re-presented in provocatively theatrical ways via the employment of his 1 ID111ersion
Technlque.• 2 There are numerous feasible explanations for Buero's phenomenal absence from the roster of internationally-renowned playwrights. In many ways, Buero's narrow reception outside of Spain follows rather traditional lines for Spanish Letters Jn general. Shakespeare ls taught In American high schools, whereas Lope de Vega, Shakespeare's extraordinarily prolific Spanish contemporary, ls rarely mentioned. The same ls true for the nineteenth-century novelist/playwright Benito Perez Galdos, who was as popular ln Spain as his British contemporary Charles Dickens was Jn England. A primary reason for our ignorance of Spanish letters rests ln the historical assumption that Spanish ls a less cultured language than English or French, long-time languages of diplomacy. As Spain's power ebbed ln the seventeenth century and other European countries' powers increased, the world-wide necessity for learning Spanish for political reasons abated. Secondly, there ls a historical bias against Spain, whose political and especially cultural zenith ls imbued/tinged with •oriental• CArab> influences, casting a shadow of •otherness• on all things Spanish. This anomaly seemingly dissociates Spain from the ancestral currents of other European countries, placing Spain in an •inferior• category. In addition, Spain's affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church works against the world-wide diffusion of its letters. Much of Enlightened 5
Thought was a product of the Reformation, and is thus associated with Protestantism. Many of the Church's counterreformatlonal measures, such as the Holy Inquisition and the Index, were enormously influential In the predominantly Catholic Spain. As the exchange of Ideas between countries increased, the Protestant countries saw themselves as progressive and viewed the Catholic ones as regressive. In fairness to this point-of-view, Spanish history does reflect an abundance of reactionary thought, but this ls manifested by Its political institutions more than it ls reflected through its art. Hence, the lackluster reception of Spanish Arts and Letters today has historical precedence: It ls rooted in Its decrease in world-wide dissemination during the Age of Enlightenment. Moreover, the era of Franco (1939-1975> ls marked by a program of deliberate interiorlzatlon: the lines of canmunlcation were effectively cut off from the rest of the world, precisely at a time when technological advancements fascllltated International lines of conmunlcatlon elsewhere. Arguments dealing with the scant International attention paid to Spanish Literature from an historical perspective are a German. This naturally creates a language barrier between Spanish authors and other writers descended from western civilizations. However, since English ls the predominate international language, learning and teaching English is a priority for any country desiring to compete in the international market. Perhaps, then, the popularity of Williams and Miller can be seen as a trickle-down effect of market economics. There ls another problematic area regarding the language barrier and Buero's reception in the United States. Nearly all the criticism on Buero ls in Spanish; for this study, only about fifteen percent of the sources are in English. Moreover, the maJor critical works on Buero in Spanish have not been translated to English. The assumption ls that if an American knows anything at all about Buero, it must be because s/he already knows Spanish. Indeed, Buerlan scholars in the States are on the faculties of Spanish Departments, not Theatre. This ls as unfortunate as it ls ironic, for Buero's principal artistic contribution ls his focus on scenography, not his facility for creating character and plot. Although there ls certainly much to learn from Buero through textual analysis, It ls his Innovative use of scenography, his stirring ability to bring his themes to life by presenting them visually and aurally onstage, which sets him apart from other playwrights. In essence, it ls the very theatricality of his plays for which he should be most highly praised. This ls not to say that the American scholars are incognizant of this Idea. Martha T. Halsey, Marlon P. Holt, Robert L. Nicholas and 7 Jocelyn Ruple in their respective works Antonio Buero Vallejo, Ih!. Contemporary Spanisb Theater <1949-1972>, Ibe Tragic Stages of Antonio Buero Val le.lo and Antonio Buero Val le.lo: The First Fifteen Years discuss to varying degrees this aspect of Buerian dramaturgy. Even so, these works were published in the early 1970's, which excludes analysis of some of Buero's later plays that emphatically display his scenographic skills. It ls not of peripheral interest to note that the plays which most Buerian scholars select as Buero's masterpieces are from his later period. However, the major thrust of American critics' studies is to introduce Buero to American readers, with little or no attention to his most recent work. They contain brief biographical background, discuss Buero In his historical Spanish literary context and detail the themes which underscore the trajectory of his plays to 1973. The most complete analysis from a critical perspective on scenography ls Luis Iglesias Feijoo's La trayectoria dramatica de Antonio Buero ValleJo Cihe Dramatic Tra.lectory of Antonio Buero Valle.lo], which was published ln 1982 and which to date has not been translated In English. In his book, Iglesias FelJoo asserts that chronological studies focused on theme add little to an understanding of Buerian dramaturgy, since the thematic corpus remains static throughout the whole trajectory of his plays. He claims that if one is to periodize Suero, the principal criterion should be scenography, as this area is where one can discern the major technical and stylistic shifts. For the purposes of this thesis, Iglesias Feijoo's discoveries are used, but directed to English-speaking students of 8 theatre, with an emphasis on the potential influence which Buero might have on the American stage. In a more particularly Spanish context, Buero focuses on the broken dreams of his protagonists as they adjust to the ever-increasing obstacles that post-war society and, particularly, the Franco regime, Impose on them. The Spanish Civil War (1936-39>, Initiated when Buero was nineteen years old, ls a constant albeit largely unstated presence In his plays. Buero was a prisoner of war for six and a half years and barely escaped with his life. It ls no surprJse, then, that his plays significantly display a largely political undercurrent, nor ls It surprising that they have been subject to Intensive scrutiny by Francolst censors. Drawing on the writings of the Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno;s theories on 'The Tragic Sense of Life• This grouping of thematic material leads to a more cohesive expression of theme in Buero's work. This study, then, breaks down into the following four chapters. The first chapter begins with the provision of a biographical overview of Antonio Buero Vallejo. In this section data ls highlighted which most clearly presage the development of his sense of theatricality and his "lnmersion Technique.• Secondly, his works are examined within the context of Modern Spanish and European theatre, primarily by focusing on what Buero himself asserts as the fundamental forces which shape playwrights. The second chapter exmanines the development of Buero's artistic vision as exemplified In the-productions of his plays. It focuses primarily on the stylistic choices implemented which, taken as a whole, Illustrate an evolutionary stylistic pattern across the trajectory of his plays. Differing attempts at periodizing Buero's works are presented and analyzed, followed with discussions of sane of his maJor works which substantiate or negate the findings of the perlodlzation attempts. The disucsslon of Buero's stylistic development ls followed by the presentation of his •Jnmersion Technique,• addressed respective of stylistic development, which Jays the groundwork for subsequent discussion on the relationship between theme and the "Inmerslon Technique." The third chapter focuses on the thematic unlt of Buerlan dramaturgy. After elucidating the maJor themes and metaphors which underlie his plays, attention ls given to the difference between how 11 he manipulates his thematic materials in his early plays and how he subgroups them in the later plays through the utilization of the 1 Immerslon Technlque. 11 In this section a schematic rendering ls provided in order to better clarify this analysis. Subsequently, examples demonstrating how the schemata reconceptuallzes thematic expression are supplied, to show how themes are developed fran a state of lmpllclt, subtextual metaphor to one of theatrlcallzed, scenographlcally-manifested life. The f lnal chapter analyzes thematic expression ln one of Buero's latest plays, Dlalogo secrete [Secret Dialogue]. In this play, Buero's sense of thematic unity ls amply displayed and, again, he relies heavily on the 1 Immerslon Technique• to strengthen the audience connection to his protagonist as well as thesis. It ls also perhaps the best example of how his 1 Immerslon Technique• can effectuate, via semiotics, a kind of shorthand approach to the transmission of theme. Buero's experiment with the 'Immersion Technique• In Dlalogo secrete seemingly bespeaks a step backward In the evolutionary progression which Buero was developing for immersion. In his early experiments with immersion, it was used very sparingly ln his plays; later lt became the structural thrust of the plays. The analysis undertaken explains why Buero would choose to reverse his position on immersion, and explores the results of this decision. In addition, the analysis demonstrates that although the 1 Immerslon Technique• ls often considered contrapuntal to Brechtlan V-effects, the two styles can be 12 employed concurrently to effectuate a provocative and noteworthy transmission of thematic content. In conclusion, this study examines the effect of Buero~s •1nrnersion Technique• by exploring how he manipulates the thematic and metaphoric data into two distinct groups, each containing speclf ic functions and each characterized by particular goals and purposes. This ls effected through an analysis of the shifting dynamics among the typical themes that Buero addresses throughout the entire body of his works, and by an analysis of thematic expression 1 Spanlshlzlng• his subJect matter, he directly particularizes his plays for his specific audience. But It ls the emphasis which Buero places on ever-changing scenographlc exploration that time and again yields new perspectives of his acinittedly inmutable body of themes. Hence, this study will assist in building interest in a little-known playwright for American audiences as well as American theatre scholars. 13 NOTES ' Antonio Buero ValleJo often will be referred to simply as 1 Buero• In this study. In Spanish nomenclature, a person's surname ls the ccrnblnatlon of his/her father's family name Cin this case, 1 Buero 1 > followed by the mother's C1 ValleJ01 >, written as two separate words, hyphenated, or with the Insertion of the word •y• c•and') in-between. The maJority of Spanish authors are catalogued by the father's family name, so 'Antonio Buero ValleJo• would be 'Buero ValleJo, Antonio.• Other examples Include "Lope de Vega Carpio, Felix• and •cervantes Saavedra, Miguel Cde>.• A notable exception ls Garcia Lorca, who preferred 1 Lorca 1 --his mother's father's family name--as his abbreviated surname. For women authors, the cataloguing problem ls compounded when they marry. The woman's f lrst name ls followed by the word 1 de" c•of•) plus the husband's father's name. 'Sanchez y Porrua, Marta• marrying 'Rivera Prieto, Rafael' becomes either •Rivera, Marla de' or 'Sanchez de Rivera, Maria.• This ls crucial Information for anyone researching Spanish authors. 2 In Buerian studies, the terms 1 Inmerslon Technique,• 'Inmerslon Effect• and 1 Interiorizatlon• are used Interchangeably to refer to the same phenomenon. In th 1s study, 11 Inmers ion Techn I que • 1s used. CHAPTER I BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND The hlghly-styllzed and ever-evolving visual element of Buero's theatre, brought to life on stage by Ingenious scenographlc experimentation, ls both the hallmark and the most distinguishing aspect of Buerian dramaturgy. Scenographlc experimentation not only sets hlm apart fran the rest of his contemporaries Cexcept those who cane Into prominence as copiers of Buerlan concepts>, but also ls the main criterion for dlstlngulshlng one of his plays from the others. As detailed below, Buero's career as painter may have been sidelined, but the effects of his training In painting are easily discernible in his theatre. Sight ls the most heightened sense for painters, and as explored In Buero's plays, It ls the very quintessence of life. Vision and sight are Infused In every aspect of hls theatre. In the text It ls a staple metaphor Cwhere optical vision equals sprltual sight/Insight) as well as plot catalyst and point of conflict Cmany of his characters are blind or visually llmlted>. In the staging of his plays, •vision" and "slght 1 are explored through various employments of the 1 Imnerslon Technique,• where the audience must rely on Its own powers of vlslon/slght In order to be •1mnersed 1 Into the perspective of the characters. For audiences of Buero's plays, optical perception 14 15 leads to a more spiritual or metaphysical understanding: sight yields insight. Arguably, the essential purpose of the •Jnmersion Technique• is to supply the visual manifestation of this metaphor. The 'Inmerslon Technique• ls primarily In Buero's case, these f lrst two attributes are perhaps more intrinsically intertwined than In others due primarily to the Spanish ClvlJ War (1936-39>. Buero was born September 29, 1916 ln Guadalajara. He later moved to Madrid where he graduated from La EscueJa de Bellas Artes de San Fernando CSt. Ferdinand's School of Fine Artsl. According to the many interviews with Buero that have been published over the years, his Interest in theatre was perceptible from a very young age. In a discussion of Buero's youth, Martha Halsey writes In her book Antonio Byero VaJleJo that Buero grew up In a household of theatre af lclonados, surrounded by theatre journals and play anthologies belonging to his father. Buero's Interest In theatre, as explained to Juan del Sarto in an Interview published In 17 1952, began by acting out scenes from plays and ballads: •Reading and reciting dialogues were games of which I never tired• C3>. In the frequently-cited article entitled •El teatro de Buero Vallejo vista per Buero Vallejo• CThe Theater of Buero Seen by BueroJ, the author states: I was an impenitent reader, elatedly inquiring as to the reasons and feelings behind everything which passed before my eyes. A theatrical child, but sincerely interested In formulated for myself a correct and detailed view of reality C4>. This passage points to the importance that vision would have on the development of his artistic sensibility which, even as a child, Buero was able to perceive. Reading Buero, being •a theatrical child" meant relying on 1 detail 1 and creating a •view of reality.• This metaphorically alludes to the philosophical underpinnings of his dramatic theory: one canes to understand life through fundamentally visual, positivistic processes. Only through a thorough examination of the phenomena of life can the underlying emotions be uprooted. For Buero, this ls a journey of elation. The productions of his plays offer an assertion of the same process: audiences examine what ls presented to them Coften through a visual focus>, come to "see• the emotions behind it, and ultimately experience a sense of elation. 18 At the same time, Buero also began to demonstrate a proclivity for writing and staging. With neighborhood friends, he would create scenes and build sets out of boxes and crates, peopling the •stage• with cardboard actors whose actions were determined by the Increasingly Improvised •scripts.• This favored past-time, he recalls to Del Sarto, •made me a playwright, although I did not realize It until many years later• (3). Despite his obvious Interest, the theatre was not the artistic medium of his choice; he was trained as a painter and apparently showed promise. Before his studies at San Fernando were truncated by the war, he was beginning to make slgnlf lcant advances In his development as a painter In the realistic mold. The Influence that painting and art history exert on Buero's dramaturgy ls significant, explicitly explored In a number of his plays and Implicitly detectable everywhere else. He suspects that In his own case, there was a connection between his lntltlal attempts at painting and his eventual career as playwright, which he elaborates on In the above-mentioned 1 "El teatro de A.B.V. vlsto por A.B.V. : Maybe It had to do with a formulation of the world which fo~ me had previously been visually-oriented: regarding taking possession of man's exterior and his enlvlronment as obligatory precedents to to ulterior exploration of the Inner reality of man and his surroundings. However, only in a certain type of drama: in that which, no matter how deeply you delve Into It, contact ls never lost with the phenomenological reality of things. Is It because of 19 this that I initially was a realistic painter before becoming a playwright? C4>. He asserts that many playwrights develop their works initially from a visual framework: Ibsen and Euripedes, he notes, had also wanted to paint C5>. It is hardly surprising, then, that a realistic painter's first dramatic works would be along the lines of Ibsenian realism. With the outbreak of war, however, Buero left school. He aligned himself with the Republican forces, first serving in the infantry and later in the medical corps. During the war, his father was shot and killed by the 1 Falanglstas• C1 Nationalist1 forces led by Franco> who, upon winning the war, Imposed death sentences on thousands of Republican sympathizers, including the then twenty-three year-old Buero. In the brief biography accompanying the introduction to a compilation of Buero's plays Hlstoria de yna escalera and Las meninas, the critic Ricardo Domenech states that it was in prison, In solitude, that 1 Buero dedicated himself to reading and philosophy for many years,• where his earlier interest In theatre was resuscitated •to the betterment of Spanish Letters• C24-25>. In prison, Buero met other artists and poets Calso Republican supporters facing similarly dismal fates>, with whom he established in many cases long-standing friendships. Fortunately, Buero's death sentence was later conmuted to a lengthy prison term, and in 1946--six and one-half years after the end of the civil war--Buero received a conditional release. In the three-year period between his release from prison and the debut of his first produced play, Buero tried to resume his career as 20 a painter, but felt that his technique had suffered irreparably from the time away from painting. Increasingly disillusioned by what he perceived to be rather a limited artistic ability, he decided to alter his career path. 1 His f lrst professional writing experience was in art criticism, where he sometimes wrote under the pseudonym of Nicolasillo Pertusato, a name he would later give to a character in his play Las menlnas. Nevertheless, Buero 1 s career as art and theatre critic was short-lived. Little by little he shifted his critical focus towards theatre. During this time he was also writing theatrical pieces and in 1949, on a whim, he submitted two of these to the Lope de Vega Award comnlttee, which bestowed first-prize honors on the virtually unknown playwright for his La historla de una escalera CStorv of a Staircase]. Part of this award--the most prestigious in Spanish theater--was the guarantee of production of his play, which proved to be •so successful that the traditional annual performance of Zorrllla1 s Don Juan Tenorio was suspended, as the result of public demand, so as not to Interrupt lts run• 15). A generation behind Miguel de Unamuno, 1 Azorln 1 (Jose Martin Ruiz> and Carlos Arniches, these playwrights blended the critical, thesis-oriented, realistic tradition with a more Intellectual, lyrical and poetical approach. Their plays are not easily categorized as naturalistic, symbolic, expressionistic, etc. Characteristically, they tend to include aspects of each lnterfused Into one peculiar theatrical concoction, sometimes serious, sometimes absurd, here as gentle satire, there as blatant aglt-prop. One might suspect that the gernerally positive critical reception to this stylistically-crossbred theatre resulted In spite of Its assortment of styles, yet this flurry of theatrical activity, In effect, was reminiscent of the Golden Age of Spanish Theatre <1550-1700) precisely because of its heterogeneity: 22 an appreciation for miscellany ls requisite in understanding the Spanish theatre. With the war, however, this flourishing theatre abruptly ceased, and when order This was the state of the theatrical arena into which Buero/s f lrst produced play triumphantly entered. Historia de una escalera is the story of three generations of two families in a Madrid tenement. Each generation attempts to better itself economically in the hopes of one day being able to leave this apartment building. Over the three acts, the focus changes to the younger generations, each of which falls, due to the economic conditions of their times and choices made with •mala fe 11 As the above synopsis points out, the stairwell and hallway make up the single set of Historia de yna escalera, and become, as the title certainly suggests, another character in the play. Buero's reliance on the transmission of thematic imformation via visual means begins with his very first produced play. Although there is no specific reference to the Civil War, the visual symbols metaphorically tie the events of the play to post-war Spain, where Buero's realistic-painter eyes observe that stagnation and repression yield a spiritual deterioration of dreams as much as a physical deterioration of property. Any possible hope rests in an active, willful acknowledgement of the current state of affairs and one's complicity in its prosperity. Historia de una escalera is a tragedy, but ls not without Buero's peculiar and characteristic strand of hope which pleads for truth, at all costs. Unmasking deception, despite any averse consequence to oneself, ls the only viable point-of-departure on the road to self-actualization. Again, Buero's nearly-Aristotelean dramatic theory ls seen in action: phenomena are observed, emotions uprooted Espanola de la Lengua• 1 Immerslon Technique• ls undertaken In the following chapter, which serves to highlight how the development of the •Immersion Technique,• as well as Its subsequent evolution, parallel the overall maturation process of the playwrlghtlng skill of Its creator. 28 NOTES 1 Critics have differing perspectives regarding this period of Buero's career. Some maintain he was disillusioned with painting CHalsey 15-16); others say that his ever-present interest in theatre grew to where It replaced painting as his primary focus, but that he never abandoned painting completely CGarcla Lorenzo 11, Marchetti 13). 2 Although Historia de una escalera was Buero's first produced play, En la ardlente oscyridad was written earlier, edited In 1946. Due to the critical and box office successes of both Historla de una escalera and Las palabras en la arena CWords in the Sandl--a one-act play produced in conJunctlon with two other one-acts by different authors on December 19,1949, two months after the premiere of Hlstoria de una escalera--the production of En la ardiente oscyridad followed fourteen months later. CHAPTER II THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 'IMMERSION TECHNIQUE' The •1nmersion Technique,• the process of inmersing the audience into one character's singular 1 l111J1ersion Technique.• The remainder of the chapter serves to answer fundamental questions regarding the functions and purposes of the 1 l111J1erslon Technique•: how It works; where, when and how It is used; how it functions and serves the plays; what it does and why it is used; and how it evolves over the years. 29 30 Development of Style In assigning stylistic influences, the general practice seems to be to look at European/western dramatic theory as the major source without respect to the rich literary tradition of Spain itself. The following section demonstrates that the thematic material of Buero's plays is expressed through carefully-selected and consciously-manipulated stylistic choices. While the following argument emphasizes the Spanish influences, it does not disavow the European ones which, as earlier stated, are particularly substantial in Buero's works as well as specifically acknowledged by Buero himself. Even when a theatrical device ls employed which clearly seems to indicate, for example, a Brechtian influence, It ls Important to note how Buero develops It around Spanish playwriting concepts. It has been argued that Buero's ability to write tragedy In a broad range of styles and techniques ls what makes him 1 not only the most Important post-civil war Spanish dramatist but one of the very best playwrights in all contemporary western drama• CRulz Ramon 416). The Buerlan theatre ls rife with technical innovations and scenographlc experimentation. In the prologue to his book entitled The Tragic Stages of Antonio Byero, Robert L. Nichols states: Buero has been the most sustained, innovative, refreshing theatrical force In Spain ••• primarily because of the constant experimental nature of his plays. For him, theatre ls experimentation. He has written slice-of-life naturalism, probed Ibsenian realism, recreated classical myths and biblical stories, adopted a Perrault fairy tale, dabbled in melodrama, experimented with epic theatre, and tried his hand at poetic drama. In all these experiments he 31 has sought fresh dramatic expression largely through technical innovation. He is ••. above all, a consu11111ate dramatic draftsman C14>. It ls because of this versatility that it is difficult--if indeed not impossible--to classify Buero/s theatre. Some critics, among them the frequently-cited critic Francisco Ruiz Ramon, tend to attempt boldly an ultimately vain chronological breakdown of Buero/s work by dividing It Into two Cor sometimes three> periods: 1> naturalistic social drama Cwlth nee-symbolic touches>, 1949-1958; 2> historical plays, 1958-1964 C1958-present>; and sometimes 3) experimental plays, 1964-present Can inherently problematic category as these plays more often than not deal with historical figures>. Nevertheless, this breakdown proves somewhat fruitless, due to at least two factors. For one, Buero/s continued focus on the same themes and Issues indicates that no such broad topical divisions occur. In addition, the death of Franco and the demise of censorship, for all intents and purposes, makes all criticism prior to 1975 inapplicable and obsolete when directed at plays written after 1975. A less chronologically-rigid approach ls taken by Luis Iglesias FelJoo In his book La travectoria dramatlca de Antonio Byero Valle.lo CTbe Dramatic Tra.Jectorv of Antonio Buero Valle.Jo>, published in 1982. Basically, Iglesias Feijoo states that any attempt at classifying Buero/s theatre from a purely literary perspective ls ineffective, given that Buero has always Intended his work for the stage C5>. Therefore, Iglesias Feijoo looks to Buero/s technical/scenographlc aspirations and sees more clearly an evolutionary pattern based on 32 theatrical experimentation and technique that does involve significant thematic turning points. Iglesias Feijoo breaks down Buero 1 s work into three periods. The first period (1949-58, roughly), dealing with traditional realistic/naturalistic tragedy, adheres to Aristotelean unitites (continual flow of time and action, with a fixed and closed single set depicting the location>, uses naturalistic language in dialogue Cwith scant use of monologues and narrative passages), is divided Into three acts, and invites/inverts the audience into the action of the play. In this regard, these plays can be considered •Ibsenian:• peopled with characters in familial conflict who are products not only of their parents but of their environment as well. The importance Buero places on the nearly-photographic description of the sets and props conforms with the Ibsenian notion that sets signify relevant information about characterization. But even as Buero acknowledges his debt to Ibsen, he emphasizes the lnf luence of Carlos Arniches, a late nineteenth-century Spanish writer of middle-class comedy-of-manners plays called •salnetes• or •costumbrlstas• CTeatro espanol actual 70-71). Buero 1 s adherence to Aristotelean notions, however, ls somewhat tenuous and, in the perhaps peculiar tradition of Spanish playwrights, seems to be filtered through Lope de Vega 1 s treatise El arte nueyo de hacer comedlas Cwhich more or Jess politely advises poets to follow certain guidelines unless, of course, they would prefer not to). The hopefulness with which Buero 1 s tragedies end bespeaks an underlying faith in humanity that some feel stems from 33 Buero's French contemporary Jean Giradoux's dramatic theories; again, Lope seems as likely an influence. The second period, which does treat the history plays of 1958-64 and therefore seemingly lends credence to previous chronologlstic focuses, ls distinguishable from the first due to its abrupt change in technique. Beuro discards the Ibsenian style for a more Brechtian approach. Indeed, he selects historical figures as his subject matter specifically for technical reasons, i.e., alienation through historical distancing. Brecht was studied extensively by the Spanish playwrights and theorists of the early fifties, and Buero more than any of his contemporaries most effectively utilized Brechtlan principles. However, as Buero writes in an article from 1959 appearing in the Spanish periodical Insula entitled "A Proposlto de Brecht" [•Regarding Brecht'], he does so maintaining that Brecht was wrong with respect to emotional alienation and, moreover, that Brecht's best works are those that fall to pass this Brechtlan dictum <1,14). In addition to his studies on Brechtlan theory, he also adapted Brecht's Mother Courage, which was staged in Madrid In 1966. Structurally, these plays are not divided Into acts and scenes, but "partes".and •cuadros• C1 About Tragedy"], he states that Brecht and practioners of social theatre tenets err in overstating their theses: If the social problems on stage take on an exclusively didactic treatment, based In rationalized generalities, the resulting works may be studies In sociology, but they are not social theatre. When social problems are manifested through lndlvldually-constructed conflicts created around concrete human beings, then can social theatre exist. One must carefully maintain the balance between the didactic ••• and the poetic. A work of theatre that can be advantageously substituted by the simple listing of Its contents ls a bad work C61). Buero's use of historical distancing ls done primarily to circumvent the censors; he looks to the past to make pointed social camnents on the present. These plays are set in times of despotism. Buero's protagonists are artlsts/vlslonarles struggling with the obstacles to free expression put forth by the autocrats of their times Cl.e., Velazquez during the reign of Felipe III and Goya during that of Fernando VII>. Although Buero cannot conment directly on the restrained state of artistic expression In the repressed Franco era, he can however allude to It through historical distancing. 35 The third period (after 1964> ls a continuation of the second--treatment of historical f igures--but with additional significant technical differences. It ls sometimes considered the 'Experimental Stage, 0 as it veers from reliance on rather traditional Brechtlan devices to a distinct focus on the "lnmersion Technlque. 0 Although this technique ls not used to much extent prior to 1970, this period ls demarcated as beginning at 1964, with the writing of ~ doble hlstorla del Doctor Valmy CThe Double Case-History of Doctor Y.a..l.JnyJ and includes another of his masterpieces, El tragalyz C ~ Basement Window], produced in 1967. These two plays deal with issues of reality and fantasy, and are distinctive ln the Buerlan canon for their uses of multiple-perspective. For instance, the principal story of El tragalyz takes place in the present and for the f lrst time, directly deaJs with civil war themes. The main pJot deaJs with a family torn apart by Its members' differing factional allegiances during the Spanish Civil War. The story, however, ls framed with cOJ1111entarles by two scientists from the future, an imaginary era in which human beings treat one another with respect and dignity. With the assistance of a time-warp device, the scientists offer the audience as a sort of sociological study a glimpse of this past, backward era, distinctive for its curious acts of Inhumanity and cruelty. The audience takes on a crucial role in the play. As the addressees, they become sociology students In a lecture hall, coolly observing the play with scientific detachment. The scientists offer the students Cthe audience> a warning/reminder of what can happen in 36 societies which forget or dismiss the lessons of the past. As the present audience, the spectators are asked to play the part of the future audience, thereby not only attending the play but also acting In It. Fran the perspective of the scientists' and the future audience's reality, the family's story is illusion. Paradoxically, the present audience knows first-hand that the story is decidedly real, even its seemingly fantastical elements, whereas the objective realm of the scientists in their laboratory is illusory. In perhaps even more Pirandellian fashion, La doble historla ciel Doctor Valmy discusses torture and the role it plays in society. Because of its incendiary topic, this play remained unproduced in Spain until 1976, two months after the death of Franco and the revocation of censorship laws. The production was a huge success with critics and audiences alike, running more than 600 performances. Buero's primary message in this play ls that citizens in societies whose governments use torture are accanplices to torture. Resigned acceptance to as well as feigned ignorance of corrupt governmental strategies ls an act of canplicity. The alienation in this case ls not related to time (i.e., past versus future>, but to place. The setting is the imaginary country of Surella. The characters have Anglo-Saxon names, for instance, 1 Mary and Daniel Barnes.• This play also uses the sclentif ic framing device and asks the audience to take an active role In the play by making them direct addressees. The doctor presents two case histories. The first involves a torturer's impotency after having castrated a victim Tbe 1 Imnerslon Technique" The two plays discussed above are slgolf lcant transitional pieces in Buero's career for two reasons. One, these plays provide a break lo perspective from the previous plays which, although also relying on 39 narrators, did not immerse the audience into a "total theatre" environment. These Pirandellian experiments with audience involvement and alternating points of view lead to the creation of the "Immersion Technique." Secondly, the direct focus of these plays on questioning what constitutes reality is heightened to degrees unexplored in the previous plays. Both of these factors are crucial ingredients to the development of the "Immersion Technique, 11 which has been Buero 1 s distinguishing playwriting characteristic since 1970. After 1970, then, the "Immersion Technique" becomes the most important and most explored aspect in Buero/s plays. Buero uses the "Immersion Technique" to present a subjective perspective of history through the point of view of one particular character. In a very basic sense, the "Immersion Technique" is a nee-expressionistic device which aligns the audience to one particular character/s skewed perspective of life. It ls, above all, a process of empathic identification for the audiences of the plays, used to increase both their sympathy for the protagonist as well as their understanding of the social environments and societal machinations which significantly lnf luence the creation of the protagonists/ strange and often bizarre perspectives. The "Immersion Technique" allows Buero to meet the criteria for effective social theatre which he expressed in his aforementioned article "Sobre teatro": "When social problems are manifested through individually-constructed conflicts created around concrete human beings, then can social theatre exist" <61>. 40 A recent study by Mary Rice titled Dlstancla e inmersion en el teatro de Buero Valle.Jo CDlstance and IQ1J1erslon in the Theatre of Buero ValleJol focuses on what Rice believes to be the primary function of the 1 Inmersion Technique.• She points out the paradoxical aspect of Inmersion: although a product of Brechtian theory and practice, the reflective distancing ls curiously melded with emotional Identification <2>. In other words, the "lnmerslon Technique" ls presented in prototypically Brechtian presentational form, but its effect is to make the audience identify emotionally with the character. Rice affirms that "despite the apparent contradictions between the Idea of Brechtlan alienation and Aristotelian identification, these two aspects, although seemingly mutually exclusive, can coexist comfortably in the same work• <2>. One of the more remarkable aspects of the 1 Inmerslon Technique• ls its paradoxical ability to simultaneously register effects of both alienation and inmerslon in the spectator Through the 1 IDJnerslon Technique," then, the audience aligns psychologically with the protagonist and because of this ldentlflcatlon, ls able to perceive more deeply the social messages of the plays which, In turn, they are more readily to adapt to their own social situations CRlce 101). In effect, Buero presents us with the union of the •personal Interior• with the •social exterior• CRice 101>. Agreeing with Iglesias FelJoo and Domenech, Rice concludes that 'this vital Juxtaposition is, without a doubt, Buero's greatest contribution to modern theatre• C101). The plays which fall Into Buero's lDJnerslve 'Total Theatre• period are El sueno de la razon CTbe Sleep of Reason], 1970; LLegada de los dloses CTbe Arrival of the Gocisl, 1971; La fundaclon CThe Foundation], 1974; and La detonacion CThe Detonation or Tbe Shot, as In •gunshot•], 1977. Although there does not appear to be a precise critical concensus regarding which of Buero's plays ls his absolute masterpiece, nearly every critic selects his/her own personal choice from this pool of plays. The exception ls LLegada de los dioses, which apart from one or two reviews, was not particularly critically 42 acclaimed. Paradoxically, it was Buero's biggest hit in years, and ran twice as long as El sueno de la razon and La detonacion. Nevertheless, this play does not demonstrate to an appreciable degree the direction which the arc of the 1 Inmersion Technique• takes from its first maJor presence in a Buero play CEl sueno de la razon> to its ultimate total dominion over La detonacion, and therefore ls not included in the discussion. Although the 1 Inmerslon Technique• stems from the theoretical ideas developed throughout his career as expressed in the list of plays discussed earlier, it must be stated that from his very first play CEn la ardlente oscurlciad Clo the 8urnlng Darkness], written in 1946 but unproduced until 1950, making it his third play to be produced>, Buero used lnmersive elements to support his themes. In this instance, the protagonist, who ls blind, describes to a sighted comrade what life as a blind person ls like. During this monologue, the lights gradually go down until the stage ls submerged lo total darkness. His f lfteenth play, El conclerto de San Oyldlo CTbe Concert of Saint Ovldel, produced in 1962, follows a similar path, only this time, the lnmerslon ls effected differently. Again, there ls a blind protagonist into whose world of darkness the audience ls momentarily lnmersed. The situation ls a fight between the blind hero and the sighted villain. In this kind of conflict, lt ls expected that the villain would have the upperhand. The hero's stroke of genius, however, is to extinguish the lights during the fight, thereby giving himself the environmental edge. Buero's lnmerslve technique is to 43 subvert audience expectations by inverting the stage lighting. At the beginning of the fight, the stage lights are at a natural level. As soon as the hero extinguished the light, however, the stage is emblazoned with a harsh white light, immersing the audience into the hero/s visual perspective: enshrouded in total darkness, his vision not only remains unaffected, but is actually superior when contrasted to the perspective of his now-sightless, sighted rival. The villain is seen stumbling around as if in total darkness, and the hero deftly and quickly defeats his rival. At the end of the scene, the lights quickly return to their normal level. These employments of the uimmerslon Technique" are quite distinct from later uses, because of their fleeting quality. The following discussion of the group of plays from the 1970/s listed above demonstrates how Buero develops this idea from a "coup de theatre" to an all-inclusive totalizing effect. The first play in which the "Immersion Technique" takes on a totalizing function is El sueno de la razon technique, though, ls used to support a classic theme: though deaf, Goya is the only one who really 11 hears.• CAgaln, Buero uses a physical limitation as Sophocles used blindness In Oedipus Rex>. Canplimentary to the main plotllne are two maJor subplots, one dealing with his impotence--he and his mistress, Leocadia Weiss, have long since ceased having sexual relatlons--and the other with Goya's increased state of dementia brought on by age, paranoia and the effects of thirty-odd years of deafness. Goya questions his own sanity, mostly because he hears voices for which he cannot reasonably account. The others question his sanity as well, but on the basis of his violent mood swings and the frightening images of the paintings he has been working on Cthose which constitute his 'Black Paintings•). The title of the play comes fran the most famous of these works, the one depleting a man sitting at a table with his head burled in his arms, with owls and bats swirling around behind him, intent on attack. On the side of the table ls written 1 El sueno de la razon produce monstruos• CThe Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters] CPlate I, page 46>. This play not only ls the first to utilized the 1 Inmerslon Technique• to a large extent, but also effectively exemplfles the prototypical Buerlan play. It treats the same body of themes discernible in all of his plays. The protagonist ls a visionary living under despotic rule, mirroring Buero's own experience. The main plot, dealing with Issues of compromise which artists In this position must accept in order to continue working and effecting change, conveys Buero's social message. The secondary plots, the 46 PLATE I: FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES El sueno de la razon produce monstruos [The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters] Number 43 in series of aquatints named •Los caprichos11 47 questions of Goya's sanity and his impotence, reflect in the first instance Buero's constant interest in Cervantine reality, and in the second, his ideas on imprisonment. This second example is a little oblique, but can be Justified by recalling that •imprisonment• for Buero indicates both 1 impotence 11 and 0 sterility.• A hopeful ending is supplied, even though Goya leaves his country. He has left a powerful legacy to liberalism which the very existence of Buero's play confirms. Moreover, the play ends with incorporeal voices proclaiming, "If it dawns, we will go! 11 ~. the lrrmerslon is achieved primarily in the scenes depleting confrontations between Goya and the others: when Goya is on stage, the other characters cease to produce sound when they talk. Their lips move, but with the exception of a few scenes having their own particular agendas, no sound emanates. These characters are first 48 presented to us in dialogues shared with one another. Therefore, the spectator recognizes them as people capable of conmunicating with one another in •normal 1 ways. Upon Goya/s entrance on stage, they cease their normally quiet conversational tones and begin to gesticulate broadly in the exasperated fashion of someone who desperately wants to get his/her point across. This, however, is only the beginning of the inmerslve process. As the play progresses and Goya/s doubts about his sanity mount, his silent world ls invaded by strange noises that Goya 1 hears•: owls hoot, bats flap their wings and birds caw menacingly Can aural recollection of the image of the famous painting>. At one point, an extended portion of a conversation between Goya/s mistress and his daughter-in-law ls heard as the exchange of a hen/s cackling characters hear and respond to them>, and also pounds his fist in fury on a table with no audible result Unlike the examples from the earlier plays, where the 1 Inmerslon Technique• ls used In a single climactic Instance, The 1 Inmerslon Technique• is utilized throughout El sveno de la razon. Still, It ls an on-again, off-again process. The example of the dialogue between the wanen shows how Buero systematizes this. When their talk begins, Goya is not In the room, and they are chatting as any two people might. Upon Goya~s entrance, they are at first silent, then gradually, the animal sounds take over. This ls the 1 Inmerslon Technique• coming Into play, going fran •off• to •on." The audience veers fran understanding Goya fran a third-person narration Cthe wanen talking to one another> to experiencing his world from a f lrst-person perspective Csharlng his aural perspective>. The spectators learn the workings of the conceit at a very early manent In the play. They quickly establish that when Goya ls absent from the stage, they are as observers of any other play. However, when Goya ls on stage, they share his world. The multiple-perspective demands which the play makes on the audience ls not a taxing affair, for the rules are easily understood and consistently applied. The 1 Inmerslon Technique,• like Brecht~s •V-Effect,• relies on presentational theatrical forms to achieve Its function. It is reasonable to assert that though they both draw fran similar stylistic options, they do so to perform different tasks. The •1nmerslon 50 Technique•/s principal aim is to create an empathic bond between spectator and protagonist by making their perspectives one. This is to assist catharsis and increase feelings of pity and fear. The •v-Effect•/s primary goal ls to distance the spectators fran the events on stage, to facilitate their objective, detached understanding of the play/s social messages, so they can then actively apply them to their own lives. As Rice points out, the •1rmnerslon Tehcnlque 11 does not replace the use of "V-Effects• ln Buero/s plays. There is a tendancy to classify all of Buero/s post-1970 plays as •1rmnersion Plays,• which ls very misleading. In El syeno de la razon, for Instance, Buero continues to utilize •V-Effects0 to distance the spectators. For example, he requires that productions of the play be multi-media events. On stage, there are three large screens onto which Goya/s paintings are projected. At f lrst glance, the paintings seem to act as background scenic elementsi Goya ls a painter so It seems logical that his works would surround him. However, the projected paintings alternate: throughout the play, fourteen Goya paintings are projected onto the screens. The paintings Buero selects to flash on the screens hold thematic information for the audience regarding the scenes in progress on stage. For instance, the most cormnonly-known of these paintings, Saturno devorando a su hi.lo CSaturn Devouring His Son or simply Satyrnl CPlate II, page 51>, sanetimes ls used to metaphorically allude to the king and his treatment of his subject, and other times refers to Goya and the way he treats his family and friends. This visual technique ls a thematic filter 52 through which the audience consciously processes the information transmitted by the characters on stage. It supplies information about the characters' interrelationships as well as marks how these relations change during the play. It ls also a shorthand method of suggesting parallels in characterization. In the above example of •saturno, 1 Fernando VII and his acts of atrocity are first associated with the beast in the painting. When •saturno• Is later proJected during one of Goya's outbursts, Goya ls associated with Saturn. In so doing, Buero makes an additional connection between Fernando VII and Goya, without needing to resort to awkward or forced dialogue to make his point. In her study, Rice, using examples similar to the one above, explains how the two presentational techniques, seemingly diametrically opposed, are not, in fact, mutually exclusive. Depending on how the projections are llt, it sometimes appears that the disembodied voices Goya hears emanate from the paintings. Feasibly, one could conclude from this that the paintings In these instances represent Goya's subconscience, now attempting to verbally comnunlcate to Goya that which previously was available to him only through visual means made manifest In his art. In these instances, the use of projections ceases to be a •v-Effect• and becomes an •Irunerslon Technique.• This, too, demonstrates how easily the two techniques can co-exist: here they literally inhabit the same space. This ls an example of what Rice calls the •paradoxical effect of simultaneous alienation and lrunerslon• <2>. 53 Rice's other major contribution to the understanding of Buero's •Immersion Technique• ls her analysis of how it develops from an itinerant to a totalizing effect in Buero's plays of this period. As stated above, In El syeno de la razon, It ls an on-again, off-again procedure. The brief discussion below demonstrates how It evolves In two other plays, La fyndacion and La detonacion. La fundaclon ls a play about a group of five men who Inhabit a small but comfortable suite In what appears to be a research institute. However, early scenes between the men indicate to the spectators that something ls amiss. Four of the men are Indulging the fifth's peculiar behavior. At first, they seem to be merely humoring him; later it seems they are patronizing him. The men's behavior towards the marginalized character ranges from good-natured overindulgence to pointless displays of open hostility. After a while, the spectator learns that the men are not ln a cushy research institute, but are actually being held prisoners in a shabby penitentiary. The peculiar character, It ls discovered, has undergone a psychotic transformation, and believes them all to be researchers at •The Foundation.• The 1 Inmerslon Technique• employed by Buero ls to make the spectators visually share the psychosis by depleting the stage setting as this man sees It. As the play proceeds, this man's delusions are stripped away, little by little. This ls demonstrated scenographically by the replacement of the commodious set pieces with standard-issue Jail sets. By the end of the play, the man has 54 returned to his senses, which is reflected visually by a shoddy jail setting. Buero"s use of the 11 Immersion Technique" is quite different in this play from his use of it in El sueno de la razon. In the Goya play, the "Immersion Technique 11 is more or less peripatetic. Every time it is used, though, it has a totally immersing function: the audience is immersed into Goya"s world. In La fundacion, however, the technique is continuous, but decreases gradually during the course of the play to where it is no longer used at all. On a graph, the use of the "Inmersion Technique 11 in the former play would look like an EKG diagram: a series of peaks and valleys, indicating its status as "on" or 11 off. 11 In the case of the latter play, the graph woulp depict a line beginning high on the y-axis and, as it proceeds along the x-axis, decreases in value on the y-axis. In other words, we would see a more or less straight diagonal line decreasing from all-the-way "on" to all-the-way "off." Even though the 11 Immerslon Technique" is in effect until the end of the play, this ls true only with respect to the spectators' visual alliance. Once the spectators realize the gimmick, they are Inverted into the character's psychological world only visually. The 0 Immersion Technique• scenographically depicts the various stages in this character"s return to normalcy. In the graphic example above, the gradations on the y-axis represent degrees of immersion, where the highest level is completely 11 on 11 and the lowest is completely "off. 0 If we substitute these values with degrees of reality, where the highest level is absolute fantasy and the lowest is 55 concrete reality, we would see as we proceed along the x-axis the same descending diagonal line. This line, then, in La fundacion shows that at the beginning of the play, the "Inmerslon Technlque 0 ls all-the-way •on• and represents absolute fantasy. As the play progresses along the x-axis, the diagonal line depicts the gradual return to concrete reality. The effect of the 1 Inmerslon Technique• on the spectator ls directly proportional to the degree of lnmersion employed. In the Goya play, there were only two possible degrees, •on• and •off,• suggesting that when the "Inmerslon Technique• was used, it was consistently effective all along the x-axis, the course of the play. In La fundaclon, it ls all-the-way •on• only in the opening scenes of the play. The diagonal line representing the gradual lessening in the degree of lnmersion used, then, also tracks the gradual abatement in the effect of the 1 Inmersion Technique.• This is to say, the effect lessens as the play progresses but as the fantasy regresses. I& fyndacion is, in many respects, a dazzlingly brilliant play, but with respect to its use of the "Inmerslon Technique•, it ls, as the graph depicts, a case of diminishing returns. The graphic depletion of the descending vertlcle line, In other words, deals both with audience expectations as well as with the potential which Buero's virtuoso manipulation of the "Inmersion Technique• has on the audience. Throughout the course of El syeno de la razon, the audience does not know how, where or when Buero will utilize the "Immersion Tehcnlque.• It ls a constant surprise and demonstrates constant technical ingenuity and artistic inventiveness. 06 In La Fundaclon, on the other hand, once the spectators have understood the conceit, Buero can only meet their expectations. The spectator knows that the stage set will eventually depict a realistic jail setting, and ls thus deprived of the element of surprise that ll sueno de la razon never ceases to deliver. The last play in this series ls La detonaclon, which, as earlier described, treats the suicide of Mariano Jose de Larra. The play begins with Larra holding the pistol to his head and pulling the trigger. Instantly the 1D1Derslon process begins: no sound ls heard. The rest of the play ls Larra's life •flashing before his eyes,• In the manner of one about to die. The last scene ls a repetition of the first, as his life has come full-circle. The curtain falls on the Journalist with the barrel of the pistol against his temple, on the verge of detonating. The shot ls never heard. This ls because the •Imnerslon Effect,• after the lnltlal scene, ls In full effect throughout the entire play. Everything we witness ls fran Larra's perspective. Thus, the gunshot ls not heard, because Larra ls dead before the sound of the detonation can register. On the graph where the values of the y-axis equal degrees of imnersion, we would see, the initial scene notwithstanding, a straight line parallel to the x-axis, starting at the highest point on the y-axis Call-the-way •on•> and traveling straight across throughout the course of the play. This graph verifies Rice's conclusion that this play ls a work of total iDJDerslon. Cit does not, however, substantiate her claims implying that the play ls superior to the previous ones because of this.> 67 Overall, Rice seems to find proportional relationships among the consistency of use of the •Jnmerslon Technique,• its effect on the audience and the quality of the play. The more consistent the applications, the more effectively its functions are realized, the better the play. While this assumption ls arguable, her study ls nevertheless an interesting and thorough examination of these differing degrees of lnmerslon. The discussion of the 1 Inmersion Technique" so far has focused on describing it and explaining how, where and why it ls implemented. The following chapter addresses its function in relation to the expression of theme. This ls achieved by Illustrating how Buero reconceptualizes and redirects thematic information through a bl-level thematic hierarchy, and will demonstrate how otherwise intangible themes are physlcallzed or reproduced sensorlally through the implementation of the •immersion Technique.• CHAPTER III THE •IMMERSION TECHNIQUE• AND THEMATIC EXPRESSION Studies on the plays of Antonio Buero Vallejo highlight the thematic constants that span throughout all of his plays. Most often, these themes are presented as though they were all utilized by Buero to effect the same results. A thorough study of Buerian crltlclsm might lead some to believe that each time Buero employs one of his standard themes, it is in an effort to register in his audiences the exact same effect in every instance. Were this the case, one would suspect that the critical and popular praise bestowed on his plays would have begun to abate shortly after the staging of his second or third play. However, Buero's career peaks, in terms of critical reception, between 1965-80, with the beginning date corresponding to the production of his fourteenth play. If Buero were merely tediously and relentlessly rehashing the same ideas in the same way over and over, his plays would hold no critical interest. Therefore, one must look to presentational aspects of his thematic manipulations In order to understand why, despite the seeming thematic redundancy, the praise, both critical and popular, grows steadily rather than declines throughout the 1960's and 1970's. 58 59 It ls important, then, to provide another means of examining the prototypical Buerian themes. An alternative process would be to define the themes based on two distinct criteria: content (what they express>, and mode of transmission through the 11 ID111ersion Technique," some themes essentially become sub-themes or "helper themes.• They have their own thematic resonance, yet also convey the essential concepts of their super-themes as well. The basic idea behind the schemata ls to demonstrate how, in the i1J1Dersive moments of the plays, the themes classified as technlcal-productlonal are sub-themes of the textual-literary: to show how the former serve the latter. This chapter discusses the prototypical themes expressed in Buero's plays by focusing on the changing dynamics between them. Buero's selections of themes Pbilosophical Basis Most discussions of Buero's use of themes attempt a classlf lcatlon strategy which arranges the themes in some sort of order of importance or frequency of occurence, with a particular emphasis on the development and evolution of the themes based on a chronological analysis. As previously affirmed, this ls not the most effective strategy for a thematic analysis of Buero's plays taken as a whole, given that the thematic content ls so static. When Buero focuses more on one given theme than on another, It ls to make a specific point, one which he feels that the emphasis will assist him to convey. Yet, there ls no real traceable pattern whereby he focuses on some themes at a particular time in his career and on others at another period. It ls futile to make this kind of chronological assessment, because ultimately, there ls a Jack of evidence to support the position. Therefore, instead of focusing chronologically on 11 importance 11 or •rate of occurence" to classify his themes, one might characterize them based on the principal function of the theme--on the type of information which the themes impart--as well as on how they are 61 produced. This is to say, some of Buero's themes are primarily textual and convey philosophical, or theoretical information. They are grounding elements of the text and rely heavily on metaphor to make their point. Still others are mostly theatrical or technical and are made manifest in production. They are themes expressed in "practice• as opposed to in "theory.• They are effected sensorially, usually visually, involving the famed "Illlllersion Technique.• The f lrst distinction effecting theme in Buero's plays ls the major philosophical basis which exists as the quintessential underpinning of the playwright's entire body of work. All of Buero's plays express the same general thesis: people are faced with brutal truths which Impinge on the possibility that they will ever find true happiness. They must learn that their ideal of happiness in life ls not, in truth, a possibility. Self-fulfillment ls not a birthright; the assumption that people can easily find it ls baseless, rooted in Iles perpetuated by inchoate social Institutions whose agenda are not easily identifiable. To strive for happiness in an unreal or hostile social environment ls absurd. Historically, this philosophy ls closely associated with traditional Spanish literature. In fact, its conspicuous prevalence in Spanish letters over the centuries practically renders it a convention. It evokes the underlying philosophy of the 'Tragic Sense of Life• expressed by the Spanish philosopher, novelist and playwright Miguel de Unanmuno (1864-1936>. Very briefly put, this seemingly paradoxical philosophy involves the search for authenticity and truth 62 in life: people must continually pursue truth, all the while knowing that they most likely will never find it (Ugarte 141). This philosophy may appear to have an overwhelmingly bleak point of view, yet it does allow for the possibility that somehow one might actually discover some shred of truth in his/her lifetime. In that sense, it can be considered a somewhat positive outlook. Unamuno bases a large part of his philosophy on Cervantes' JlQn. Qui lote, whose acts of madness bespoke, at the very least, a deliberate quest for authenticity. His madness was the result of his failure to find meaning in life. His wisdom, however, Jay in knowing that one mu.at. find meaning ln life, so his solution was to create his own particular version of reality. This question of where one draws the line between fantasy and reallty--another conventional Spanish literary tradition continued by Calderon de la Barca in his Life Is a ~--ls not, however, what Interests Unamuno most. Rather, he sees In Quljote a touching and glorifying symbol of tenacity, for it is the relentless quest for answers and meaning which ennobles us, not what we find. In concordance with Unamuno, Buero believes that it ls the search for authentlclty--the volltlous act of searching ltself--whlch ennobles us,. especially since we have no guarantee of ever finding the answers. This hopeful gllmner of significance for mankind based on Unamuno's "fe dudosa• [doubtful falthl underlies all of Buero's tragedies. This philosophical focus can be seen in Buero's plays by analyzing the conflicts which confront his protagonists, which invariably deal 63 with constLainlng social poweLs and misplaced tLust in the puLsuit of happiness. The sooneL they accept that happiness ls not a Lealizable goal, the sooneL they can focus on puLsuing the only viable alteLnatlve: effecting a compLomlse. The only Leal, authenticating ideal that one can and should stLlve fOL ls to undeLstand hls/heL situation in the WOLld and make the best of lt. Self-actualization, one's quest foL authenticity, ls achievable only by acknowledging that in life one must, by necessity, compLomise. FoL Buero, compLomise does not imply that people must submit theiL PLinclples to those of others; It ls not a question of ceding to higher poweLs. Rather, compLomlse Involves accepting llmltatlons only lnsofaL as they lead to the lncLease ln self-knowledge. One has famlllal and certain social Lesponslblllties which aLe not compLomisable issues. CompLomise ls not effectuated by selling out, but by acting on principle as faL as the deceitful society will allow. Essentially, compLomise ls accepting the absuLdlty of life, but it ls not an acceptance that one meLely compliantly yields to. Instead, it ls a willful enteLpLise involving hope, agency and a dauntless pLoactlve seaLch foL tLuth. This compLomlse, at least foL the pLotagonlsts in BueLo's dLama, is initiated by a focus on and tLust in hope. Hope ls the necessaLy ingLedient to the Unamunian 1 doubtful faith• which QLants them the stLength of mind to asseLt their will. StLuctuLally, "hope• in BueLo's plays is Leflected by the quality of open-endedness which concludes his tragedies. Often, the protagonists' moLal conflicts are Lesolved, but the consequences they face foL thelL actions aLe not clearly stated. Buero does this for two reasons. First, by leaving the plot unresolved, a "happy ending• is at least possible, even though the majority of the plays have endings which are presumably quite bleak. Second, providing explicit closure to the plots puts the focus on the consequences of actions instead of on the lessons learned by undertaking the quest itself. The lessons are hard-won and the victories often infinitessimal, but they do exist. As often as not, the heroes do not survive the plays, but their lessons and inner moral victories are acknowledged and left as legacies to their surviving comrades or family. The fruits of their labors will be reaped and some good will come of their struggles as long as they are fought with integrity and self-knowledge. Though tragedies, Buero/s plays have much more hopeful endings than the plays of many of his contemporary playwrights. For instance, at the end of his plays, there is no need for characters such as Mlller/s Linda Loman to sadly plead that •attention must be paid• to the struggles of the Willy Lomans of the world. On the contrary, the heroes of Buero/s plays leave legacies which speak for themselves. When Buero/s heroes die, they leave some positive, palpable proof of their existence which lasts as a testament to their victory, regardless how small. Buero/s plays, then, offer a plea for compromise. They advocate compromise as the only viable solution, given the circumstances of life. Happiness ls unattainable, thus undesirable. Self-knowledge ls the result of an active search for understanding the constrictions imposed on self-actualization by feckless and arbitrary 65 socio-political forces. Recognizing and ultimately accepting one/s situation in time and space ls the closest one will ever get to notions of happiness. Structurally, this lesson ls learned through stages. The hero is at first presented as a believer of the Ile that happiness is attainable. Once this Ile ls exposed, the hero discovers and is faced with his/her own self-delusion. At this point, the hero realizes the quixotic Unamunlan concept of the "tragic sense of life" and is thrown into a period of chaotic meaninglessness. Buero/s thesis becomes clear when the hero makes the active decision to f lght back, not in order to overthrow the limitations placed on him/her but to prove that it is possible to win by losing: that an inner moral victory has more worth than a social or political one. In this sense, Buero/s plays commemorate his seventeenth- and eighteenth-century prescursors, whose plays, too, dealt with issues of personal honor. Yet, even his most desperately sad plays are somewhat open-ended, and in their Cnon-) resolutions we can perceive the dim glow of hope. It should come as no surprise, then, that Buero/s dramaturgy is focused on raising questions rather than providing answers. In his mini-poetics of sorts entitled •sabre teatro• CAbout Theatre] published in 1963, Buero states that 'theatre must be based on that which ls known, but it has to explore that which it does not or perhaps cannot know. It cannot be, then, exclusively resolvable, and must be, to some degree, problematic• C63). Whereas the older characters in the previously-mentioned Historia de una escalera do not 66 achieve what they had hoped to, the younger ones--through an active assessment of self-knowledge and the constant clinging to faith in hope, however dublous--at least are granted the possibility of one day actually leaving the stagnant environment of the building for good. The themes which Buero continuously explores, then, are direct channels to his overriding philosophy of life. Generally, Buero's audiences easily and effortlessly perceive this thesis from the web of interlocking themes, due to Buero's facility with metaphor and expertise with thematic structure. Almost never do his characters specifically articulate Buero's philosophical perspective. Instead, this ls evoked through the unity of his mu1tlfold themes. The philosophical basis to Buerlan dramaturgy ls the product of the sum of its thematic parts. Textual-Literary out in production, which must be experienced in order for their effects to really register. The first to be presented are the textual themes. One of the most noteworthy constants in Buero's work is the use of Spanish history as a theme A second constant in Buerian drama is that 1 hope• is usually made manifest by the actions of the younger characters. In all of his tragedies, there remains at the end a young person whose persistent insistence on truth at all costs indicates if nothing else a moral victory of sorts and a promise for fulfillment in the future, if not for him/herself, then for the friends or comrades who endure. In Historia de una escalera, the older generation has failed, and their children are in grave danger of following In their footsteps. Neverthess, the end of the piece allows for hope in the characters of the young lovers who, as their defeated parents loom sadly and silently in the background, swear to each other that with mutual assistance they will leave the tenement and all it stands for and face the future bravely together. One can generally assume that an 69 intergenerational conflict in Buero's plays will result with the younger generation's eventual liberation from the restraining forces which lnmobilized and enslaved the older generation to the degree where they became the unmwitting purvayors of the enslaving ideology. The third in this class of themes ls the 1 passive 11 versus "aggressive• dichotomy (often called "contemplatlve 0 versus •active• CDomenech 14)). Abundant in Buerian theatre, this psychological contrast between these two types of characters brings out the polemical nature of his plays through the confrontations these characters have with one another. Often--as in Historia de una escalera and especially, El tragaluz CTbe Basement Windowl--it is vis-a-vis a fraternal relationship, frequently drawing none too subtely on the Caln-Abel myth •actives• or •aggressives, 0 who typically are younger characters, possessors of a wide liberal, if not revolutionary, streak. The •passives• or "contemplatives" are the older characters, staidly 70 coping with the asphyxiating conditions of life which, through complacency and fear, they unknowingly helped to create for themselves and for their families. Although Buero states that his intent ls to raise questions rather than provide answers, his plays frequently do come down on the side of the •actives,• who, In the final scenes of the plays, offer the youthful ray of hope. However, the older characters are often very tenderly depleted, as victims of a past era whose victimization, Buero sympathetically seems to suggest, is ongoing. It may be •wrong• for them to continue to be fearful, but entirely human, and as such, entirely understandable, however unpreferable. Often, the passlve/agresslve dichotomy exists together In one character. Still, through the actions and discoveries of his characters, Buero ls positing a point of view which alllgns with the •active• perspective. This kind of protagonist Journeys from a •contemplatlve 11 point-of-departure and develops by the end of the play into an •active. 0 This journey ls assisted or hindered by Cat least> two other characters, one •active• and the other •contemplative•: the former urging the protagonist to redeem himself by adopting the •aggressive• perspective and the latter insisting, often through the threat of force, that the protagonist maintain his course. It is therefore not surprising to find that in·hls censorship allegories, the "contemplative• influence is embodied by a reactionary autocrat or despot, whereas the •active• persuasion ls exerted by an Idealistic revolutionary C~J. which updates Cervantes' Don QulJote and utilizes many of the same structural techniques Cl.e., lt is an opera within an opera>. As a deconstructlonist of myth, Buero differentiates himself from other writers, at least according to Luis Iglesias FelJoo, by maintaining a deep respect and fondness for the original sources of his inspiration, even when his departure from them ls rather radical (Iglesias Feijoo 97-98>. Iglesias FeiJoo quotes Buero Cwho speaks in his typically paradoxical and circular manner> as stating that 1 Demythifying is relatively easy; the diff iculty--and the reward--of this art consists ln returning to mythify, ln the manner most real, with the debris of the demythificatlons• C97). In other words, when Buero wants to 72 explore a particular theme, he draws on familiar myths in order to establish an inrnediate thematic image in his audience/s mind. Within his plays, he explores the theme in an updated context, deepening its resonance for the audience. The result is that not only has the myth helped make his story clear, but his story has helped to clarify the intentions of the myth as well. When the plays are not direct reinterpretations of Greek myth, Christian parables, fables, fairy tales or Spanish folklore, they all in one way or another are stamped with a mythic presence. Often, Buero will title his plays In ways that lnrnedlately call these sources to mind, for instance Casi yo cyento de hadas CPractlcallv a Fairy ~J, LLegada de los dloses CArriyal of the Gods], Lazaro en el laberlnto [Lazarus ln the Laberlnthl, and the titles mentioned above. Other plays introduce mythic or mythological images through other media, usually painting. One such play is Dialoqo secrete [Secret Dialogue], where canparative associations are constantly being made between characters lo the play and the mythic f lgures In a painting by Velazquez. The frequency with which Buero relies on myth to highlight thematic points lo his plays, thus, Itself takes on thematic functions. The fifth textual theme explores the moral stagnation which results from a climate of confinement, often presented in the form of imprisonment, past or present, lo the lives of his protagonists. If, as earlier cited, Danenech finds that the Spanish Civil War is behind every Caln-Abel relationship 11 active/con tempi ati ve 11 antimony>, then sure I y, behind every asphyxiating environment typical in Buero's plays is the idea of Imprisonment. Buero suggests that If the political forces which land people in jail remain in power after their release, then the situation has altered only minutely for the ex-convicts: they remain, in effect, in prison. The intellectual silence that Buero endured during his six and one-half years in prison ls relieved Cand relived) in each and every one of his plays. Furthermore, from the time of his release from prison In 1946 until 1963, Buero was forbidden to travel abroad. Although Buero was "free,u the conditions placed on his liberty suggest a continued form of lmprlsonment. 1 The sixth textual theme In Buerian dramaturgy deals with the specific compromise which faces the artist working under conditions of censorship. Although Hlstorla de una escalera treats this rather obliquely, in a large number of his later plays--especially the so-called history plays--hls protagonists are drawn from Spanish history CVelazquez, Goya, Larra and Esqullache> and usually undergo an Identity crisis Involving the limits that despots place on the artlst/vlsionary's need for self-expression. The result ls that the protagonists devise compromises with which they can live. Buero's historical plays more or less state that the more things change for artists, the more things stay the same; Spanish history recounts a series of Francos with whom artists have had to compromise. Artistic expression, he ls Indicating, can be Impeded but It cannot be altogether stopped, and by focusing on past artists who thrived 74 despite despotism, Buero alludes to his own position with respect to censorship. In the early sixties, Buero and Alfonso Sastre , entered into public debate through a series of journal articles concerning the proper position artists should adopt regarding censorship. Sastre, whose aglt-prop plays, when publshed, were read mostly by leftist intellectuals, felt that any sort of compromised position was an artistic sell-out. It ls not possible, from his point of view, to effect changes in the system by working within its conf Ines. Buero disagreed vehemently, and argues hls point In his series of history plays, which stand as exemplars of precisely how this compromise has been ergo can be accomplished with success. These plays are practically parables. One of the most intriguing aspects of studying Buero's plays is to see Just how much Buero can say without ever actually saying It. It ls Interesting that after censorship was abolished fol lowing the death of Franco in 1975, Buero's writing style changed very little, much to the surprise of many play-goers. It is possible that Buero's distaste for propagandistic plays was more influential in the development of his writing style than the fact that his work was subJect to censorship. As stated earlier, Buero's concern ls with raising questions, not with providing answers, and the characteristically tendentious tone, style and form of agit-prop plays are not conducive to this end. 75 The seventh textual theme concerns Buero's frequent use of love triangles in the plotlines of his plays. This literary conceit is a practical means for placing opposing ideologies, represented by two men, around the interests each has for the Jove of a woman. For instance, in his prologue to an edition of Historia de una escalera, Ricardo Domenech characterizes this show-down as being between the •passive/contemplative" Fernando and the 0 aggressive/actlvo• Urbano, rivals for the love of Carmina (15-16>. As previously stated, Buero's themes tend to interlock and recall one another. In Buero's plays, Domenech argues, behind every active/contemplative antinomy lies the Caln-Abel myth, behind which, In turn, ls the Spanish Clvll War C17>. In other words, the love triangle is another way of setting brother against brother, Republican against loyalist. Even their names seem to indicate their partisanship during the war. •Urbano" Curbanl was Republican Cthe liberal anti-Fascist side>; his name ls a reminder that the majority of Republican sympathizers were progressives living in urban centers. On the other side, •Fernando" was a loyalist (pro-Franco>; his name is a traditional Spanish name, recalling the numerous Spanish kings of the same name. The love triangle is structured around active/passive show-downs in several of Buero's plays, most notably El tragaluz and .En_la ardlente oscuridad Cin the Burning Darkness]. Structurally, Buero's use of the love triangle is very functional. By using love triangles, Buero is not doing anything bold or original, as love triangles traditionally have been a prevalent tool since the Inception of 76 Spanish drama, even before their extensive use In the Honor Plays of the Spanish Golden Age. Yet, the use of love triangles ls but another example of how Buero takes very ordinary tools to create quite original products. The love triangle provides the initial catalyst for the conflict between the two suitors which, as It unfolds, allows its participants to express their ideas about any number of issues. For purposes of the plot, the two men need to Justify their sultablllty for the woman to one another (and to themselves>. In the ensuing debates, they present their particular philosophies on life, which are ideologically tied to opposing points of view. Ultimately, this ideological link exposes their party affiliation in the Spanish Civil War. Although Buero clearly identifies Ideologically with the Republican sympathizer, one should not infer from this that the Republican ls always the victor in the battle for the woman's love. Buero finds different resolutions to each of the plots involving love triangles. Love triangles, thus, provide Buero practical, ready-made formulae for introducing discussions about the most unspeakable issue of his day: the Civil War. The eighth and last of the textual themes to be presented is also perhaps the ~ost widely-studied aspect of Buerian theatre: Buero's propensity for the inclusion of physical limitations Jn his characters, especially blindness. This, of course, ls a classic literary trope which has been in constant use at least since Oedipus ~. In almost every one of Buero's plays someone is developmentally-challenged In some way Cbe It visually-, 77 auditorially-, articulatorally-, or mentally->; paradoxically, these are the characters who best understand the human condition. In Buero's plays, these characters frequently benefit from the trade-off: they are bestowed with a kind of compensatory supreme knowledge which transcends their so-called disabilities. Buero has been criticized for his frequent and, it ls felt, occasionally heavy-handed reliance on these characters to make his point. They are seen as cllches, and the more Buero uses them, the more he decreases their symbolic effect. The Introduction of a physically-challenged person, It ls assumed, ls a sure clue for the audience that this character's words are going to carry the most weight. This ls not, in truth, a fair claim. There are too many exceptions to support this as anything more than a very general assertion. It ls perhaps more true of these characters when their role ls secondary. However, when it ls the protagonist who ls 1 impaired1 In some way, the limitation Itself generally ls the very cause of the dileDJDa which develops. The inclusion of this theme in the classification of •textual themes• requires a precautionary note. At first glance, it may seem that this theme might be categorized more propitiously as a productlonal or iDJDerslve theme (discussed ln the following section>. On the contrary, although elements of production greatly assist in the expression of this theme, it is nevertheless a theme with thorough textual groundings. Of all Buero's textual themes, It ls the one which ls most often, most effectively and most harmoniously adapted to the workings of the •Irrmersion Technique.N 78 Each of the themes outlined above emanates from Buero/s texts, is generated by fairly standard literary practices, with a particular reliance on metaphor to educe his implicit philosophy. The following section deals with themes which, although also integral aspects of text, express their content more effectively through sensorial manifestations. Whereas the first group ls explicitly grounded in the text, the second is evoked through production. Technical-Prociuctional or Iomersiye Tbemes The textual themes listed above are conmonly encountered in Buero/s plays. They are devices or metaphors found within the text which Buero relies on to express his deeper philosophy. Another class of themes distinguishes itself from the textual themes by functioning sensorlally through the Implementation of the 1 Iomersion Technique.• If the first themes can be classified as •textual/metaphorical, 0 then this second can be considered •productional/iomerslve1 because these themes are best conveyed in production through lnmerslon. A brief list of technical-productlonal themes follows with a discussion of how their thematic relevance ls manifested in production. The f lrst of these productlonal themes ls the inclusion in his plays of other art forms, notably painting and music. This ls a very traditional Spanish technique caning straight out of Golden Age drama, where the typical play/s resolution involves a multitude of art forms conjoining to create an artistic amalgamation whose primary function ls to celebrate the society/s return to the status quo in an 79 ostentatious display of loyalty to the throne. Although Buero's plays clearly are not blatantly nationalistic, they do attempt to offer some solace to a war-torn public. This is not in a direct effort to reconcile opposing ideologies but to underscore that even though the war ls over, the problems continue and, moreover, that they will not simply disappear as if by magic. He shows the audience the problem, raises the questions, and hopes that its individual members will be moved to examine their position and attempt to effect some positive change. In an almost pragmatic sense, there is an argument for considering Buero 1 s plays as nationalistic. Like the Spanish playwrights of two and three hundred years ago, Buero includes other art forms, especially painting, in his plays in order to remind his audiences of a tradition of excellence and to instill in them a sense of pride and accomplishment which may facilitate a sense of solidarity. Buero incorporates the paintings of Velazquez and Goya into his plays to provide both a means of cOD111emorating his artistic ancestral fathers Crecall that Buero was trained as a painter> as well as a way of validating the Spanish artistic spirit in general. A second theme evoked by iDlllerslon ls Buero 1 s emphasis on light and darkness. In addition to the literal sense of raising and lowering the lights onstage, Buero often casts a chiaroscuric mood over his plays, metaphorically associating light with knowledge and darkness with ignorance. Not surprisingly, the same kind of criticism as above has been leveled against Buero for this supposed cliche. 80 Unsurprising, too, is the counterclaim that Buero has achieved interesting results, perhaps mischievously, by subverting the metaphor by inverting the values: sanetimes light equals ignorance and darkness stands for knowledge. The use of light and darkness is most noticeable in the plays with protagonists who are blind or visually-impaired, but it ls not by any means an exclusive resource for these plays alone. The third lmmersive theme which Buero extensively explores is the sensorlally-manlfested fantasia which several of his protagonists undergo. This theme is the one which is most easily and most often linked to inrnerslon, as it ls the reflection of the protagonist's frame of mind forced onto the audience through technical means. This ls tightly associated with Cbut not limited to> the textual theme 1 physlcal limitations.• In El sueno de la razon, particularly, the fantasia which engulfs Goya ls replicated fo the audience via aural manifestations. The audience understands that the bird caws, animal noises, deafening heart beats, etc., which they hear when Goya is on stage are not naturalistic renderings of the sounds in his hane. Instead, they are aural manifestations of Goya's psychosis. Other examples include characters who are blind or schizophrenic, whose •visions• are imposed on the audience through technical or scenographic changes. The final theme which Buero develops through immersion processes involves masking, or rather, the process of unmasking as another means of revealing 1 Truth 1 by exposing deception. This is often the 81 counterpoint to imprisonment, as it suggests, above all, the liberation of truth, be it through the attainment of self-knowledge, or through the revelation of societal or autocratic deceptions. Again, llIIIlerslon technlques--in this case, the use of masks in production--make what might in the text be a metaphorical allusion into something physical, palpable and real on stage. The most important dlstlctlon to make between these two groups of themes ls dependent on the manner of thematic expression. The f lrst class comes directly from the texts, whereas the second Cnotwlthstandlng substantial textual understructurlng> hits its marks most effectively and successfully through presentational aspects of scenography and staging. Schemata As Buero himself has stated on several occasions, the themes he explores vary little from one play to the next. Yet, there ls a great deal of thematic diversity in Buero's plays, which stems not from his selection of themes but his treatment of them; not the "what, 1 rather the 11 how.• The following discussion, supported by several examples, focuses on how the expression of theme in Buerian drama ls effected by the 'Immersion Technique,• leading to a reconfiguration of the dynamic between themes. Figure 1 (page 82> depicts the themes outlined earlier in this chapter. It represents the range of themes encountered in nearly any 82 TEXTUAL-LITERARY PRODUCTIONAL-IMMERSIVE THEMES THEMES I I I I I I I Spain I myth hope light/dark I masking I contrast I I I compromise physical love other art sensorially- 1imitations triangles forms manifested fantasia passive imprisonment aggressive THEMES FIGURE 1: PREDOMINANT THEMES IN THE THEATRE OF ANTONIO BUERO VALLEJO 83 of Buero/s plays. They exist in this figure on one plane not only to suggest their shared omnipresence but also to signal an equivalence regarding both their frequency of occurrence and their relative importance. That they are subgrouped into either 0 textual 1 or •productional" themes is of no real organizational consequence in this figure and is offered more as a parenthetical recapitulation of earlier discussion. The figure expresses that these themes are to be found equally--in both frequency and weight of importance--in Buerian drama. Although the themes in Figure 1 are aligned separately, it should not be inferred that they operate independently of one another. In his plays, Buero often treats the themes individually; likewise, the audience perceives the transmitted thematic information independent of other themes. Generally, however, Buero/s plays simultaneously evoke any combination of themes, effectuating a combined resonance in the audience. Figure 1 does not imply any particular correlative dynamic among themes or how they are used. Figure 2 ------I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I CA1> CA2> CA3> CA4> CA5> CA6> CA7> CA8> Spain hope passive- myth compro- love physical lmprls- aggressive mlse triangles l imitations onment Diagram A: Textual Super-Themes I I I I I I I I CB1> CB2> PHILOSQPHICAL BASIS I I ------THEMES------1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I TEXTUAL A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 SUPER I I I I I I I I THEMES I I I I I I I I 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 II II IMMERSIVE B1-4 B1-4 B1-4 B1-4 B1-4 B1-4 B1-4 B1-4 SUB THEMES Diagram C: Hierarchy of Themes FIGURE 2: THE 'IMMERSION TECHNIQUE 1 --THEMATIC RECONCEPTUALIZATION 85 sub-themes ls the theatre; productional themes are more successfully evoked in production through sensorlal manifestations. Inrnersion, through its presentational theatrical pyrotechnics Ci.e., scenographic changes in lighting, sets, sound, etc.> evokes the information of the super-themes by sensorlalizlng the content of the sub-themes. This ls to say that the super-themes, which are innately conceptual, are evoked sensorlally through their conJuncture with the sub-themes, which are innately sensorial. The linkage between the two classes of themes which inrnersion achieves doubles the thematic information by making the intangible super-themes resonate through their sub-themes. Diagram C of Figure 2 expresses that when the •1D111ersion Techniqueu is in operation, any one of the sub-themes CB1-B4> can be attached to any one or more of the super-themes CA1-A8>. In these instances, the productional-inrnersive sub-theme not only expresses its own information but also evokes that of one or more of the textual-literary super-themes to which it ls attached, in effect doubling its thematic resonance in the audience. Furthermore, the addlton of the philosophical basis at the top of the figure indicates the flow of the hierarchy. The figure implies that any of the themes from group B Cfor instance, other art forms) ls attached through imnerslon techniques to any of the themes from Group A Cfor example, Spain>. The sub-themes are physical manifestations which reinforce/support the textual super-themes, which, in turn, serve the philosophical basis. Essentially, this schemata reflects a 86 trickle-down theory which functions in reverse. Figure 2 shows how Buero is able to direct his philosophy from intangible concepts to sensorially-evoked, physicalized effects on the audience. Fundamentally, the •IlllJlersion Technique 0 ls an example of theatrlcallzed synecdoche: the whole of Buero's philosphy is designated and called to mind by focusing on one part of it. In essence, Figure 1, which depicts all the themes existing on the same continuum, reflects the dynamics between themes found in Buero's early plays, before his extensive experimentation with illlilerslon. During the period of his IlllJlerslon Plays <1970-1977>, the themes are often redirected onto two separate strata, with sub-themes serving the super-themes, as depicted in Figure 2. It is also important to point out that in many instances, a sub-theme can concurrently serve more than one super-theme, as shown in Figure 3 philosophical basis /\ I \ super-theme --A2--A3-- \ / \I sub-theme --B2-- Figure 3: Ability of Sub-Theme to Concurrently Affect More than One Super-Theme 87 In otheL woLds, the textual-liteLaLy supeL-themes aLe a kind of filteL through which the PLOductionaJ sub-themes flow (utLickJe up") to ultimately suppoLt the philosophical basis. These pLoductional sub-themes, then, distinguish themselves fLom the textual-llteLaLy supeL-themes moLe by mode of tLansmission than by intent. This ls to say that wheLeas the latteL emeLge fLom the pLlnted text, the foLmeL aLe made manifest in PLOduction. The following discussion focuses on how the super-themes and sub-themes diffeL, and fuLtheL, demonstLates how BueLO uses the 11 InmeLsion Technique• to align sub-themes to supeL-themes. The discussion demonstLates how BueLo's exmpeLimentation with staging and scenoQLaphy effects in the audience a kind of implicit undeLstandlng via semiotic shorthand of the themes expLessed in the text. It is lmpoLtant to point out that although BueLo often uses the InmeLsion Technique to link sub-themes to super-themes, the pLoductlonal themes can call to mind textual themes without the employment of InmeLsion Techniques. FOL example, in El sueno de la t.AlQD., BueLO employs historical distancing to associate his typically visionary pLotagonist, Goya, to the textual theme "Spain.• The Goya chaLacteL symbolizes the unflappable Spanish spirit in times of socio-political tuLmoil and unceLtainty. Although Goya ls an extLaOLdinaLy man, he shaLes with his fellow citizens the same repLessive constLalnts imposed impaLtially fLom above. The details of his situation diffeL from those of the average citizen, but the nature of the conflict between citizen and LUieL ls the same. The histoLy of 88 Goya, then, ls the history of Spain, and the reality of the illusory figures ln the play mirrors the reality of the theatergoers ln the audience during the Franco Regime. These Ideas are supported throughout the play by the lmplemetation of the productional theme "other art forms. 0 Painting, in this case, is the most prominent example. As detailed in the previous chapter, several Goya prints are projected on three large screens throughout the running of the play. At times, the projections are as likely set pieces: it is his studio after all, and therefore not surprisingly used to effect mood. However, that the images should change depending on which scenes are being enacted slgnif ies a selection process based on more than shifting moods. As mentioned ln the previous chapter, Buero uses Goya/s painting Satyrno devorando a sy hiJo [Saturn Devouring His Sonl •1rmnersion Play, 11 It ls not, as specified In Chapter Two, a work of total lnrnersion. Inmersive moments are scattershot throughout the play. The above example of •other art forms,• then, is not a sub-theme of •spain,• rather a co-theme. In this example, Chart A offers the better ref lectlon of the dynamic between themes: they are working together to evoke the philosophical basis. Nevertheless, Buero does use irmnersion to tie •other art forms" to various super-themes. Towards the end of El sueno de la razon, Goya 90 has a nightmare in which he ls visited by the demons who persecute the artist in his sketch named El sueno de la razon produce monstruos [~ Sleep of Reason Pro During the scene, the 11 monsters" speak in non-sensical, elliptical phrases Cwhich in reality, are words taken from the titles of the Goya Black Paintings or from parts of their captions>, perhaps indicating that the genesis of this entire cycle of paintings was during the same psychotic episode. There are times, too, when Goya hears disembodied voices ringing out in his otherwise empty chamber, as if the prints on the walls were directly speaking to him. The Immersion Techniques Buero uses in El sueno de la razon are a means of showing the audience, by inviting it to take Goya's perspective as its own, the source of Goya's nightmarish paintings. Buero marginally accepts the popularly-held notlon that Goya's deafness gradually drove him Insane, but suggests that Goya's socio-political situation was a very likely additional cause. This is evident in the following scene, where more or less the same events occur. In this scene, the monsters are replaced with soldiers dispatched from the Crown, who rape Goya's mistress in their attempt to further humiliate him. Suddenly, the nighmares of an insane old man seem downright prescient. The "Immersion Technique 11 applied to 0 other art forms" and •sensorially-manifested fantasia 0 is Buero's way of showing us the very personal link which exists between artists and their products, as 91 well as the link between artists and the societies and Jlvlng conditions In which they Jive and work. The replication of Goya 1 s nightmare and the ensuing rape Cwhlch, though "real,• is nevertheless an lmmerslve scene, as the audience experiences it from Goya 1 s point-of-view, complete with noises and phrases that are not at all realistic> are the products of these two sub-themes, through which ideas regarding all the super-themes are manifested. It may seem ill-conceived to classify 11 other art forms• as a sub-theme ln a play such as El syeno de la razon, which deals so predominantly with painting. Nevertheless, there is room to argue that through immersion, particularly in the nightmare and rape scenes, Buero ties •other art forms• to each of the asuper-themes.• In addition to serving as a chronicle of his times, Goya 1 s Black Paintings address the history of Spain, especially the history of Spanish despotism which ls enacted in the nightmare and rape scenes. Goya 1 s painting not only speak for him, but also to him. Goya 1 s •physical limitations,• his deafness and psychosis Cwhlch Buero apparently believes ls effected by social as well as physical causes> are experienced by the audience through immersion, and come to life via "other art forms. 0 Many of his paintings include mythological figures, which, in non-immersive sections of the play Buero associates with different characters. The immersive nightmare scene brings some of these figures to life, including his •Judith,• in the personage of his mistress, Leocadia. Goya 1 s artworks imprison him, not only llterally--he ls under house arrest due to the liberal strain of his 92 artlstry--but also figuratively, as their "voices" taunt him with threats of 1 Don/t scream, silly fool," We/II crack your ugly skull,• and •Swallow it , dog!• These phrases are all captions to his Black Paintings, and 11 spoken 11 by f lgures from both the nightmare and rape scenes. The figurative imprisonment of Spanish citizens under Fernando VII expressed in his paintings ls the cause of his virtual imprisonment ln his own hane. The nightmare stems from Goya/a anguish before his inminent social compromise PLATE III: DIEGO VELAZQUEZ DE SILVA Las meninas [The Ladies-in-Waiting, or The Matrons of Honor) Prado Museum, Madrid. 96 The events of the play take place around Velazquez/s painting of what many art critics consider his masterpiece. The ending of the play is a tableau, where all the characters freeze in the final pose of the famous painting. In this moment, the sub-theme 11 other art forms 11 makes its most noticeable appearance. In this riveting moment, the characters in the play become the painting, and the super-themes •spain,• 11 compromise• and 11 hope• emanate from the still tableau. This is not precisely an example of immersion, but more of a coup de theatre Cone which, it ls interesting to note, pre-dates the similar final-scene tableaux depleting famous paintings used in the American musicals 1116. and Sunday in the Park with George>. Neverthless, it could be argued that in thls"flnal moment of the play, Buero ls indeed using the •Immersion Technique,• for it ls in this one moment alone when the audience sees the events of the play in exactly the same way as does Velazquez: it ls his artistic vision come to life, and everything preceding are individual factors which combined culminate in Las menlnas. The inclusion of the f lnal tableau in 1112, depctlng the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was perhaps the author/s way of lending historical credence to the previous events of the musical: an attempt to elevate his play from whimsical musical comedy to a lesson in American History. The tableau ending the first act of Sunday in the Park with George indicates the end result of the artistic process of the dedicated perfectionist, Georges Seurat, after f lrst having depleted the pratfalls and sacrifices made along the way. Its thesis 97 declares that the life of an artist is exposed through his/her works. In this play, too, there ls the reminder to the audience that the work is historically-grounded. In Las roeninas, Buero attacks the same thesis Calthough his play arrives twenty-five years prior to Sunday in the Park with George>. The difference in the use of tableaux between the two plays regards questions of immersion. Both reenactments compel the audience to share the protagonlst/s perspective. However, unlike Seurat, Velazquez ls a central figure ln his product. In the Seurat musical, what the audience sees ls the artist viewing his product. In the Velzaquez play, the audience sees the artist literally living inside his own work of art. This scene ls questionably immersive, as it does not at first glance seem to present a skewed perspective. Still, the tableau expresses two perspectives. An audience of Las meolnas, like spectators of the Seurat play, witness the end result of the artistic process. It ls an objective point of view. However, from having seen the obstacles to free artistic expression placed before Velazquez, they understand what his painting truly expresses, even if only to the artist himself. On an objective level, they see the painting they recogolze from the Prado Museum. On a subjective plane, they glimpse what. ls actually being expressed through their shared perspective with the misunderstood genius. Their perspective, lo a sense, has been skewed. The question of "skewed perspective• problematizes categorization strategies regarding immersion. When audiences are faced with characters who are blind, deaf, psychotic or even dead, it ls easy for 98 them to perceive a perspective as being skewed. Velazquez fits none of the above descriptions, but ls nevertheless very different and distinct from ordinary people. Being both an artistic genius and ahead of his times proved to be a limitation that he had to overcome. In a loose sense, then, his point of view, by being so far from the norm, ls skewed. Perhaps it is a stretch to include "geniusu as a •physical llmltation, 0 but in this example it does become a super-theme whose information ls manifested through •other art forms.• Moreover, "other art forms 0 also evokes the super-themes 11 Spaln, 11 "hope" and especially, 0 compromlse. 11 None of the preceding dialogues specifically addC'esslng 0 compromlse 11 conveys its essence as effectively as this lmmeC'slve moment does. Studies on BueC'o do not include this as an example of 11J11111erslon, but an aC'gument for' its inclusion can be made. As discussed in Chapter Three, the last two of Buero's ImneC'slon Plays CLa fundacion and La detonacion> distinguish themselves from BueC'o's previous experimentations with lnmeC'slon by extending the inrnersive periods in the plays. The f lrst few employments of the "Inmersion Technique• in Buero's plays Involved protagonists who are blind in cli~actic moments of the plays. In El sueno de la razon, it appears on and off throughout the play, most frequently associated with deafness. In La fundaclon, the psychotic, delusional protagonist believes himself to be in a posh, research institute, which through lmmeC'slon ls reflected in the set pieces. As he slowly C'egains his sanity, the set ls stripped away to finally reveal a barC'en prison 99 cell. The immersion starts at the beginning of the play, and continues until the climax, the moment when the protagonist realizes and accepts his actual position. After a brief, non-immerslve prologue, La cietonacion Immerses the audience Into a dying man's life flashing before his eyes, which continues until the final curtain. Regarding expression of theme, totalizing Immersion plays follow the pattern outlined In Figure 2. This is to say, their super-themes are evoked by sub-themes through Immersion. However, two Important differences exist between Buero's plays containing immersive sections and these two totallzed Immersion Plays. First, in the farmer's case, lmmerslve sections deal with sensory perception: sight and heac-lng. These plays portray for the audience what it ls like to be blind or deaf. In the case of the latter plays, total immersion deals not with senses but alternative states of mind: insanity and the moribund stage of existence which hovers between life and death. These plays ostensibly depict for the audience what lt ls like to be insane or, plausibly, dead. Ways of depleting sensory deprivation such as blindness or deafness are more readily available to theatre practlcloners and more universally and consistently understood by theatergoers. There is no absolute way of depicting insanity or the moment just before death that will be perceived uniformly by an audience. Second, part of the effect of immersion ls Jost when it ls extended over a long period of time. An hypothesis can be postulated that the longer the immersion ls in effect, the less effect it has on audiences. Indeed, Immersion involves submerging the audience into a 100 perspective other than its own, but it is a temporary shift in perspective in which the audience consciously and momentarily takes part. That ls, people do not suddenly think they have gone blind during a performance of En la ardiente oscurldad just because the lights go dim. The emotional connection forged by irmnerslon between audiences and protagonists risks overstatement. Audiences may be •swept away by 11 or •caught up ln 11 irmnersion, but it is a conscious and voluntary state of being. Irmnerslon ls a glrmnlck which the audience •gets11 lrmnedlately by recognizing Its signals. Thus, obJectlve detachment ls an essential, though largely unacknowledged, Ingredient for effective irmnerslon. This is where the problem with extended lmemrslon arrlses. Arguably, the attention span of many spectators is not sufficient to allow for the demands of this kind of willing suspension of disbelief: a period of two or more hours. During these totallzed plays, the audience, as In any play, becomes Involved In what ls happening and, perhaps, forgets that they are being irmnersed. Once their awareness of their state of lrmnerslon ls displaced, the effect ls decreased. An additional problem arrlses In La fundaclon. As stated, lrmnerslon ls more efectlve both when the audience can Instantaneously recongnlze Its signals and when they maintain a detached awareness of being lrmnersed. In La fundaclon, the audience ls tricked throughout a large portion of the f lrst act. It ls very Ingenious of Buero--arguably his most brilliant theatrical ldea--but It ls also entirely deceptive regarding the workings of lrmnerslon. It ls not enough for the 101 audience to share the skewed perspective; for inmerslon to be effective they must also know that the perspective is being imposed on them. In these two plays, the dynamic interplay between super- and sub-themes ls more mature and profound, and developed in extraordinary ways. Particularly outstanding ls Buero's treatment of the conceptual theme "imprisonment,• manifested visually through the psychosis of the protagonist of La fundaclon. Equally noteworthy in La detonacion ls Buero's experimentation with the sub-theme "masking, 0 through which the super-themes 11 Spain" and, especially, "compromise• resonate. Nevertheless, with respect to protagonist-audience identification, these totalizing experimentations with inmerslon are less successful than the preceding momentary ones. Either they do not comply with the norms of inrnersion Cas in La fyodaclon>, or they are not understood or, at least, appreciated by the audience Cas La detooaclon's short run indicates>. The fact that Buero's use of inmersloo is more complete lo this play-- 0 slnce there ls no alternation between objectivity and subjectivity• (Iglesias Feijoo 475>--does not indicate that lt has a greater effect on the audience. Rice's hypothesis In directly contrapuntal to the one postulated above. She finds that the more totalizing the inrnersioo, the better the play. Her qualitative analysis is based on many criteria, but the overall effect on audiences appears to be of dubious import. A crucial question ls left unanswered by her hypothesis: if these are 1 better" plays, regardless the reactions of the audiences, why did 102 Buero cease to create this kind of totalized drama? Why, then, does he in later plays choose to implement his earlier version of the "Immersion Technique?" A very plausible response is that he considers immersion to be, for whatever reason, more effective when it is implemented sporadically and sparingly. Perhaps he recognizes his •Immersion Technique• for what it essentially is--a gimmick--which is more effective and more theatrical when it manifests conceptual themes through scenographic wizardry, rather than when it becomes an all-encompassing, extended theatrical experiment. In summary, Buero'a plays reflect a consistent reliance on the same body of themes to express his underlying philosophy. His experimentation with the "Immersion Technique" grows during the period of 1970 to 1977 to where it becomes the focus of both his writing and all criticism on It. Although many differences can be observed between the uses of the two types of immersion (sporadic or totalizing> in Buero's plays, It is important to restate that with respect to thematic expression, both types adhere to the schemata postulated in Figure 2. The process of immersion, be it sporadic or totalizing, involves the subJugation of sub-themes to super-themes. The hierarchy of thematic expression shown in Figure 2 states that immersion provides for the evocation of textual super-themes, which are Innately conceptual; through the sensorial manifestation of productional sub-themes, which are innately theatrical, and thereby lend themselves both effortlessly and effectively to technical or scenographic manipulation. Again, the Implicit philosphical basis of 103 Buero/s plays is transmitted elliptically to the audiences through this hierarchical process, making an overt and tendentious display of thesis unnecessary and quite avoidable. Buero/s thesis can be located by looking at the dynamic between themes, whether they be interacting as co-themes Cas expressed by Figure 1) or redirected by lnmersion into super- and sub-themes Cas expressed in Figure 2). Rice indicates that Buero/s plays which totalize inrnersion are the better plays. It can be surmised that Buero does not agree with her, given that after the cold public reception to La detonacion, he did not write any more totalized inrnersion plays. In fact, plays utilizing the 11 Inmersion Technique" post-1977 are much more akin to the earlier plays which used Jmmersion intermittently. The following chapter looks at one of these plays, Dlaloqo secrete [Secret Dialogue), and considers why Buero chose to revert to his earlier methods of immersion. 104 NOTES 1 Oddly enough, "lmprlsonment 11 ls a topic that has not been explored to much extent in the scholarly essays on Buero. It would provide an Interesting point of departure for a lengthy critical study, as it ls a pervasive theme throughout his entire body of work. Even during times of rigid censorship, Buero 1 s six and one-half years of imprisonment is reflected subtextually in rather provocative ways. The years Buero lost to imprisonment ls a biographical element as Important and as lnf luentlal as ls the fact that he was a painter. Curiously, It ls a topic which ls broached only parenthetically. CHAPTER IV THE 'IMMERSION TECHNIQUE• AND THEMATIC EXPRESSION IN DIALOGO SEGRETO Francisco Franco died on November 20, 1975. His successor, Juan Carlos de Borbon, surprised many by declaring that Spain would become a democratic nation (Ugarte 73>. Part of the liberalization of Spanish society was a vigorous expression of artistic free speech. Many expected that with the death of Franco, Buero would enter into a new period of frankness, finally attacking explicitly all the issues to which previously he was able to only cautiously allude. In fact, less than two months after Franco/s death, Buero/s banned anti-totalitarian play from 1968, La cioble historia del Dr. Valmy C~ Double Case History of Dr. Valmyl, opened in Madrid to critical raves and very enthusiastic public acclaim. His first new post-Franco play, La detonaclon, was eagerly anticipated. Although mostly critically praised, the play was received very poorly by the frustrated public, arguably discouraged by the insubstantial variance In Buero/s selections of themes, topics and style. In the following fifteen years (1977-1992>, Buero had five plays produced in Madrid: Jueces en la noche [Judges in the NightJ, 1979; Calman CAlllgatorl, 1981; Dlalogo secreto [Secret Dlaloguel, 1984; Lazaro en el !aberlnto [Lazarus In the Laberlnthl, 1986; and Muslca 105 106 cercana CNearby Music, but better known in English as Tbe Music Window], 1990. None of these plays attained the critical or public acclaim of his earlier productions. For many critics, Buero's style, shaped over a career spanning more than twenty-five years, had become timeworn: a review of one of his plays was entitled "Ya vista, ya oldo" C0 Seen It, Heard It," loosely]. Still, some critics argued that there were significant differences in Intent between Buero's pre- and post-Franco plays. In his introduction to Muslca cercana, David Johnson asserts that in these post-Franco plays, Buero continues to •focus on the existential Issues facing individuals In society• C20>. The critical problem, however, no longer deals with totalitarianism's demand on the Individual to submit to compromise. Rather, the topics broached concern •the Individual's obligation to submit to the socio-economic compromises Imposed on him/her by a market economy• (Johnson 12>. This shift in Buero's basic philosophy, lt can be argued, was undetected by a large section of the audiences. One feasible explanation for this is that even though the underpinning ideas deal with new issues, the manner In which they are expressed remained, characteristically, unchanged. The same body of themes is employed with all the Buerian staples, Including his most identiaf iable trademark: immersion into the perspective of physically-challenged characters through the utilization of other art forms, fantasy sequences and light and dark contrasts. Audiences and critics alike, unable to see the forest for the trees, felt that Buero simply no longer spoke to them. He may have symbolized tenacious 107 American contemporaries Miller and Williams had long since ceased to be major voices in the forefront of new American drama. Furthermore, there was no major political upheaval on which Buero's American counterparts could lay partial blame for their diminishing influence and/or reputation. Buero, though, was so keenly associated with the repressive Franco Regime that the demise of Francoism made Buero's covert message of anti-totalitarianism no longer necessary or even germane. The public--still attending his plays, more out of respect than anything--was unable to reconfigure him as their new voice of Democracy. If, as eclipsed box-office receipts in the post-Franco period seem to indicate, Buero's decision to curtail his use of the 0 111111ersion Technique' from its totalizing presence to its previous sporadic interruptions did not improve audience draw, why would he continue in this vein? Even though audiences were less than enthusiastic about La. detonacion, it was, as Rice points out, heralded by several critics as his masterpiece legally-censured free speech does not guarantee 11 better 11 art: the fact that political conditions allow an artist to speak more straightforwardly will not necessarily increase the aesthetic value of his/her product. 1 In other words, although Buero ls allowed to be as forthright as he pleases, It does not please him to be too forthright. This is how Buero addresses and satisfies his own artistic needs. Second, Buero/s reputation as 1 lmportant playwright 1 --substantlated by the hundreds of critical texts which proclaim his genius as much as explore his craft--overshadows the fact that he ls, essentially, a conmerclal playwright writing for the general public. Not only are his plays meant to be produced, as opposed to simply being dissected by closed-off academicians, but they are also meant to make money. This does not mean that Buero feels hls plays should not challenge the audience, but on the other hand, they must not risk being so confusing due to artistry that they are nearly Incomprehensible. Audiences simply did not 11 get8 La detonacion, which fal led at the box off ice, despite numerous favorable reviews, ostensibly because spectators who were not sufficiently versed in the biographical or historical background of the eighteenth-century essayist found It too difficult to understand Beginning in 1979, Buero's use of the 1 Immerslon Technique• follows his earlier experimental work with Immersion. In his five plays from this period, inmersion results from: the Imposition of a subJective viewpoint through the lnterspllclng of dream or fantasy sequences into the otherwise naturalistic flow of the action; the use of special effects involving sound or shifting light-dark contrasts; and the association made to other art forms, notably painting and music. Experimentation with immersion is no longer Buero's principal focus. Rather, immersion ls his tried and true means of "enriching the theatrical experience, permitting a psychological profundlzatlon which ls unattainable by maintaining the traditional third-person perspective" CRlce 101). 111 As an example of Buero/s renewed interest in sporadic immersion, his 1984 play Dialogo secrete has been selected for analysis. Of the five from this period, this play is the most representative with respect to Buero/s use of immersion. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates that Buero/s work with immersion ls far from shopworn, and indicates that the seemingly slight variations nevetheless effectuate new and significant advances in thematic transmission and resonance. Dlalogo secrete opened in Madrid on August 24, 1984. It is the story of Fabio, an art critic, and his relationships with his wife Teresa, their daughter Aurora, Fablo/s father Braulio, and Braullo's friend Gaspar. The five of them live together in a modern, metropolitan flat, presumably in Madrid PLATE IV: DIEGO VELAZQUEZ DE SILVA La tabula de Palas y Aracne, commonly called uLas hilanderas" CThe Fable of Palas and Arachne, "The Spinners" or "The Weavers") Prado Museum, Madrid. 113 Aside from imaginary conversations envisioned by Fabio between his father and himself Spinners Chorus 11 l from Wagner's Bugye fantasma CFlylng Dytchmanl--whlch ls not only a fantasy cue for the audience, but thematically joins the Velazquez painting to the action of the play. This ls an excellent example of how Buero paradoxically uses principles of Brechtlan alienation to facilitate an emotionally deeper, synergetic connection between the protagonist and the audience. The other fanstasy element ls the use of flashbacks, which interrupt the climactic moments of conflict between Fabio and his daughter by throwing him into the halcyon days when Aurora--diminutlvely called "Arorln" and played by the same actress in these scenes--felt only pride and love for her father. The previous chapter presented Buero's basic philosophy and demonstrated how it is expressed to the audience through his prototypical themes. The remainder of this section focuses on Buero's reliance on lrmnerslon to reconfigure thematic transmission in Dlaloao secreto. A brief look at how his basic philosophy ls reflected in Dialogo secrete begins the discussion, followed by a short, descriptive listing of the super-themes. Finally, an explanation ls provided regarding how the concepts of the philosophical basis and the 115 super-themes are manifested through the "Immersion Technique" by the lmmerslve sub-themes 11 other art forms," 11 light-dark contrasts, 11 sensorlally-manlfested fantasia• and "masking." One of the most noticeable aspects of Buero's philosophical basis ls his continued interest in the Unamunian concept of the 11 Tragic Sense of Life, 11 which pervades Dialoao secreto. Essentially, Fabio's tragedy ls his Inability to face the reality of his situation and admit to his family and to the rest of the world that he is an impostor. As stated previously, this philosophy, taking the Quijote tale as its point of departure, states that the Individual must embrace compromise by accepting his/her role In society and all its limitations ifs/he ls to be an active member In it. Paradoxically, the individual must at the same time never cease his/her individual, personal quest for authenticity and self-actualization, even though the embrace of compromise makes this goal virtually unattainable. Quljote's goals were unrealizable due to the given circumstances of his social situation. He sidestepped the issue by altering the givens to adapt to the prerequisites to attaining his dream. This evasion of •reality,• however, led to his ultimate downfall. He overstressed the importance of realizing his goals, sacrificed his sanity, and lost his place In society. This causal link In the Unamunian concept ls what Buero stresses most: the deliberate avoidance or dismissal of •reality 11 leads necessarily to personal tragedy. Buero's protagonists learn that by finally accepting "reality 11 and 11 truth, 1 regardless the severity of 116 the consequences, they are reincorporated into the society from which they strayed. Human beings are social creatures; there is something innately comforting in social reintegration. DiaJogo secrete highlights Buero's emphasis on the importance of claiming a spot in society by presenting a case where the quixotic protagonist, Fabio, has seemingly attained his ulmposslble dream." He ls a color-blind art critic, a specialist in concepts he ls physically unable to even begin to comprehend. His successful swindle has alienated him from everybody; his fear of exposure has the crippling capacity of keeping even his most beloved family members at arm's length. His admission of fraudulence will subject him to public scorn and humiliation, but it is his only alternative route to familial reconciliation. Fundamentally, the play ls a parable illustrating that an over-stressed focus on dreams which are not grounded in reality is a self-centered act that can only lead to social isolation. In order to facilitate a dlcusslon on immersion's impact on the super-themes in Dialogo secrete, a brief description of them precedes. The concept of 0 hope• is expressed primarily through Aurora, whose desire to unmask her father and, in effect, bring about his downfall, at least expresses that truth will prevail. As ls so often the case in Buero's plays, this ls better than living with lies, no matter how painful. 'Hope" also resides in Aurora's potential forgiveness of her father. Fabio's wife dissuades him from committing suicide; the only thing keeping him from carrying out his plan is some vague, hopeful notion of reconciliation with Aurora. The tone of the play ls 117 undeniably tragic, but despite Fabio/s desire to kill himself--even despite the overwhelming consequences which the revelation of truth will have on both his career and his public reputatlon--there remains the hope that his acceptance of the truth will bridge the gap caused by his deception which has always existed between his family and himself. By embracing 11 real ity, 11 he wi I I be professional Jy ruined and publicly mortified, but there remains the hope that he may experience an inner, personal victory through the redemptive and unconditional love of his family. There ls an entire series of relationships in this play anchored around the passive-aggressive dichotomy. In his studies on this dynamic, Domenech would classify Aurora as the principal 11 aggresslve 11 and Fabio as the •passlve 11 or "contemplatlve. 0 A parallel relationship exists in the fantasy relationship between Fabio and his father, in which Fabio ls the •aggressive 11 Thematic evocations of 11 Spain 11 run throughout the piece, particularly with respect to history. Much of the theme 11 Spain 11 resonates through its connection to the central set piece, the Velazquez print. This print ls also used to connect notions of 11 myth" to the lives of the protagonist and his family. Metaphorical allusions are drawn amongst Fabio, members of his family, Velazquez, and the mythological characters In the print, with respect to the often conflicting roles of artists and critics In society. "Imprlsonment 11 ls associated with Spanish history as well, and Buero imbues his play with several discussions on this topic. This ls especially seen In the sub-plot of Gaspar CBraulio/s prisonmate during the war) who is yet another "aggressive 0 contrasted to Braulio/s 11 passlve. 11 These talks allude to the idea that the suppression of truth is a form of imprisonment. By focusing on the absurd dilenuna of a color-blind art critic, "artistic compromise" is perhaps the theme which Buero addresses most directly. The entire play speaks metaphorically to the role of critics and criticism in society, with particular regard to accepting responsibility for the consequences of the criticism leveled. Issues of "compromlse 11 most forthrightly direct the spectators towards 119 self-reflection by confronting them with the unartlcualted question 11 are we not all, as critics, to some extent color-blind?" The most obvious use of •physical limitations" in Dialogo secrete is Fabio's color-blindness. Often, the physically-challenged character ls compensated with supernatural insight. This would be a misleading assumption in Fabio's case, as he is decidedly not 11 he who sees with the most color" "aggressive" role. Fabio claims to have thwarted the romance because Samuel was an unstable drug addict. This is pure self-delusion, as his real motive was jealousy: Samuel was a brilliant painter. Moreover, he happened to guess Fabio/s secret, and therefore posed a threat to the relationship between Fabio and his daughter. The central character of the triangle, Aurora, is torn between her love for the two men. In order to continue loving her father, she must tacitly approve of his deception and exonerate him of blame for her lover/s suicide. In order to keep the memory of her love for Samuel alive, she must unmask Fabio/s deception, publicly humiliate him, and dissociate from him forever Ca traditional revenge strategy straight out of seventeenth-century Spanish Honor Plays>. Naturally, Buero has her opt for the latter; as ls customary in his plays, the aggressive pursuit of "truth 0 at all costs is always an act of the young. Nevertheless, is should be pointed out that Buero does not completely embrace Aurora/s act. Her quest for truth is admirable, but he indicates that her castigation of her father is excessive. Whereas it is true that Buero draws many favorable parallels between •truth" and "youth" in his works, he also points out that the acts of the young can be overly rash. Their self-righteousness colors their perspective, and their lack of experience limits their capacity to understand the cruelty of their acts or the irrevocable finality of their consequences. The ex-revolutionary, Gaspar, acts as Buero/s mouthpiece in this regard, as he attempts to persuade Aurora to keep the secret within familial bounds. He understands that Fabio/s denial 121 of his color-blindness ls a personal tragedy. In the end, exposing Fabio's deception to the society at large will destroy Fabio but will insignificantly alter life and notions of "truth• for everybody else. The punishment ls not proportional to the crime, and thus unjustifiable. His argument is persuasive: in the end, Aurora leaves home, possibly never to return again, but with the promise that she will leave Fabio's secret unrevealed. The super-theme "myth" is explored in Dialogo secrete in many fascinating ways. It ls perhaps the play's most well-developed theme, and is expressed both textually and lrrmerslveJy. 1 Myth 1 is manifested scenographically by alternating uses of V-effects and irrmerslon effects, and for this reason, an extended analysis of it is provided at the end of the chapter in order to help clarify the concluding hypothesis. Buero's use of the 0 Irrmersion Technique• In Dlalogo secrete is very similar to his implementation of it ln El syeno de la razon, In which non-irrmersive parts of the play, presented from an ob)ectlve third-person perspective, are lntercut by irrmersive segments, where a subjective first-person point of view is imposed on the audience. In non-inunersive sections, all themes act as co-themes, uniting in differing ways to bring out the philosophical basis. In inmersive segments, the dynamic changes, and the themes are expressed by their sub-division into super- and sub-themes. The following discussion looks at how the concepts of the textual super-themes in Dlalogo secrete are manifested through the lmmerslve sub-themes 0 other art 122 forms," "light/dark contrasts," "sensorlal ly-manlfested fantasia," and "masking." If the maJor problem regarding the publlc/s reaction to Buero/s use of immersion in La detonaclon was that it was simply too difficult to understand, then Dlalogo secrete exemplifies how Buero succeeds in simplifying the process. Every time Buero uses immersion it is in the same way. The switch from the objective to the subjective point of view is unquestionably clear: it only occurs in the fantasy dialogues between father and son, and ls manifested scenographically by dinming the lights on stage and ridding the painting of color Cvia a special filter>. In addition, the Wagnerian chorus of Las hilanderas ls played at some point durlng the inrnersive segments, usually at times when the painting itself is a a focal point of their discussion. Buero ls making it as easy as he can: he even titles his play after these scattershot moments to call the spectators/ attention to them. The sub-themes are concentrated by lnrnerslon and, in effect, become co-sub-themes In this play: •other art forms," "light/dark contrasts" and "sensorlally-manlfested fantasia" are conjoined scenographically in the representation of the secret dialogues. The contrast in llghting--the dimming of the stage llghts--cues the audience that immersion is in effect. The dlscolorization of the painting, also a light cue, immerses the audience Into Fabio/s colorless perspective. The visual focus for the audience during Immersion ls the painting, and music underscores "the secret dialogues" when the focus is drawn to the Velazquez print (making a specific connection between Fabio/s 123 color-blindness and this particular print>: both examples of 11 other art forms. 11 The other fantasy sequence--the "memory" episodes involving Fabio and his family when Aurora was a child--is a subset of the lmmersive secret dialogues. It occurs only twice: the f lrst time, in the middle of a secret dialogue; and the second, directly preceding one. Slight scenographlc changes occur to signal these fantasy episodes. In the first occurence, the gray tones of the painting return to their natural hues. Lights bathe the stage with a warm, morning light which strikes the entire set, bringing out all the colors. Music accompanies the light change. At the end of the flashback, the lights go back to their gray tones, and the secret dialogue between father and son recorrmences. In the second instance, it ls nighttime. The lights are low, and as the Wagnerian music begins, 11 Arorin° enters. At the same time, the lights change to the morning light as In the previous flashback. At the end, the lights momentarily return to a naturalistic nighttime setting. Then, as Fabio, alone, contemplates the current turbulent state of his familial affairs, the decolorizing gray lights come up. Moments later, Aurora--now as an adult--enters the room, and all lights return to the nightlme setting. The flashback sequences, then, do not follow exactly the established pattern of immersion--uniformly used in all secret dialogue sections--, but they entail only slight variations which are very easy for the audience to follow. The main Indication of immersion ls still an abrupt change in light, accompanied by music. 124 The three sub-themes co-evoke the super-themes in various ways. The visual focus on the Velazquez print caused by immersion evokes historical associations between the past and the present. It also sunmons forth identifying notions of both Western civilization and, particularly, Spanish culture. Fabio"s "physical llmltatlon, 11 clearly, is manifested for the audience through the extraction of color from the print. Still, the subjective look into color-blindness is all the more effective by focusing it on the art work, which not only speaks to Fablo"s fear of being exposed, but also underscores his agony at not being able to perceive fundamental concepts of his llfe"s work, which he truly loves. The passive-aggressive dichotomy is most candidly addressed Jn the fantasy sequences, where Fabio ls clearly the 11 aggressive 11 to his father Braulio"s 11 passlve." Nevertheless, the colorless painting looming behind him acts as a constant reminder that In all other Instances, Fabio remains a "passive," attempting to conceal his 11 truth 1 from the others. Issues of 11 compromise 11 are particularly evoked by immersion. Fabio refuses to compromise. He cannot accept even partial responsibility for the suicide of the young painter, Samuel, and does everything he can to maintain his secret. The gray tones of the print are a torturous reminder to him that his inability to accept compromise is pure self-delusion: he may successfully swindle the others, but he cannot fool himself. Ironically, the only times in the play when Fabio approaches an embrace of compromlse--the secret dialogues with his father--ls when he his colorless perspective ls 125 underscored most for the audience. An argument can be made that this ls done to highlight the fact that even though Fabio ls trying to make his father confront his own complicity in the deception, it is only happening In his Imagination. In other words, the gray tones remind the audience that even though Fabio ls acting like a typical "aggresslve 11 In these scenes, he is in reality, still a 11 passive. 11 When at last Fabio confronts his father, the lights are not gray, but vivid. The gray shroud of "passivity" is lifted. Of course, Fabio remains color-blind, but figuratively speaking, he has taken his first step towards compromise, which ls highlighted for the audience by the presence of color In the print. 11 Imprisonment, 11 too, ls evoked through immersion. Metaphorically, Fabio ls a prisoner of his deception. This ls further underscored in the text, where his wife refers to his secret anguish as a form of Imprisonment and torture. The light changes which occurs at the beginning and end of the secret dialogues encapsulate the scenes, cutting them off from the reality of the other sections of the play: In effect, imprisoning the characters, sealing them off from communication with the other characters. Buero Indicates quite clearly in Dlalogo secrete that self-delusion and self-deception are veritable forms of imprisonment. In La detonaclon, Buero used 11 masking" extensively through immersion. In Dialogo secrete, it is also used, but in a more f Igurative way. The flashback scenes with an adult actress portaying a child arguably Involve a form of masking. The persona of the child 126 ls 11 masked 0 through its embodiment in the adult actress. Notions of "unmasking," of course, are integral to the plot of the play, since Aurora, as depleted by the unmasked actress portaylng her, expends all her energy in an attempt to expose her father's deception. In another interesting scene of the play, directly following the second flashback scene, Aurora Interrupts Fabio's solitude to finally confront him with his preposterous lie. She has painted her face a peculiar shade of green, which goes unnoticed by Fabio, providing Irrefutable proof of her father's color-blindness. For a brief moment, the audience ls not entirely sure If her face ls really green or not. Following Fabio's defense that he did notice but thought it too rude to mention, she responds by stating that her face is not any different from usual, suggesting that Fabio only believes it to be green because she said it was. At this moment, she has cornered him, and he has to state one way or the other if her face ls green. 2 It is an Interesting, suspenseful scene, but it is not entirely successful, as it undermines the otherwise thoroughly cohesive use of Immersion in the play. The audience ls meant to wonder, at least for a moment, what color her face ls. By this point in the play, however, the spectators already know how the immerslve episodes are to be introduced. Nothing about the scene suggests a shift from an objective to a subjective perspective. Theoretically, then, the audience should not question even for a second whether or not her face ls green: It must be. 127 In another lmmersive moment, Teresa ls pulled into Fabio's perspective by hearing the strains of the Wagnerian chorus. This scene ls Just prior to Fabio's Intended suicide. As the music resounds loudly through the theater, Teresa stumbles from her room, holding her ears. It is as if "The Spinners' Chorus 11 were a sort of S.O.S. cry on Fabio's behalf. The selection of the musical plece-- 0 The Spinners' Chorus•--1s clearly not incidental, and calls to mind the spinners of the painting, who, as Fabio has already pointed out, represent the Fates. In other words, It ls as if the painting itself were calling out to Teresa: the •Fates" Intercede in Fabio's designs to kill himself. Although It ls an Interesting scene, why is Teresa suddenly privy to Fabio's perspective? Though absorbing, these scenes with Aurora and Teresa break the established rules of Immersion, casting a dubious shadow on the the overall continuity of Immersion in Dlalogo secreto. But what If these scenes are not Intended to be examples of Immersion? A potential counterargument regarding the scene with Teresa might be that It is not lmmerslve, rather distancing. Another outside voice, like a Brechtian narrator, intrudes into the world of the play. Thus, immersion becomes only one of Buero's many playwrlgting tools which combine to create a work of integrative theatre, as opposed to being the primary element of a totalized work. In Dialogo secrete, Buero curtails Immersion, assigning it a secondary role rather than showcasing it as the structural thrust of his play. When immersion ls used, lt ls a support system which guides the 128 audience towards a deeper understanding of the themes of his play. Much like El sueno de la razon, Dialogo secreto uses many of the same theatrical La tabula de Palas y Aracne CPlate IV, page 112>, by Diego Velazquez de Silva (1599-1660>, is the central set piece of Dialogo secreto. An examination of this painting shows two groups of people: in the foreground is a group of spinners; in the background is a depiction of the confrontation between Arachne and the goddess Palas Atenea, 2 sent by Zeus to punish Arachne for having dared to weave the perfect tapistry illustrating the pride of Zeus. Arachne/s punishment is to be converted into a spider, condemned forever to spin her webs CTeatro espanol actual 26>. However, arriving at a universally-accepted critical interpretation of the painting is problematic. One group believes that the foreground simply depicts women working in a tapestry mill in 1657 Cwhen it was painted> and that the background group ls part of a tapestry. The other persuasively refutes this by arguing that the background is an actual group of classical figures, since the goddess and Arachne Gassett--identify the weavers of the foreground as the 11 Parcas" Cfatesl who wind the thread of life for all people until they cut it at the end. This painting, he argues, ls a study of death. 4 This interpretation would therefore place two groups of mythological f lgures into one seventeenth-century setting. Whatever Velazquez's intent was ls Irrelevant to this discussion. At issue ls why Buero selects this painting as a focus around which he can both experiment with different theatrical styles as well as base a play. The play ls a series of dialectical debates about art and criticism, using the painting to fuel the arguments. Fabio frequently associates himself and the others with characters in the painting. Throughout the play, he sees himself In the painting, acting out different roles. Each time he shifts his point of view onto another figure In the piece, he adopts a different interpretative perspective regarding both the painting and his life. For example, at one point In the play, Fabio questions whether he has enacted the part of the castigating goddess, for having so severely criticized Samuel CArachnel. Later, when It appears that Samuel's suspicions regarding Fabio's color-bllndeness are to be revealed, the tables turn, and Fabio envisions their roles reversed. In the first case, he is severely and unfairly chastising Samuel for daring to be brilliant. In the second, Fabio CArachnel ls punished, publicly humiliated by 130 Samuel CPalasl's proven suspicions, for having attempted to pass himself off as something he could never be ls setting himself up for a fal I. The key words "critic" and "defect" signal the spectator that ultimately, Fabio will be associated with Arachne. The spectator, then, ls attuned to this dynamic between characters before the protagonist ls, who f lrst associates himself with the goddess. In the scenes where Fabio is playing with these shifting associations, Buero ls using the painting as a distancing V-effect. On the one hand, the audience understands point by point Fabio's associations as he sorts through them; on the other, lt remains one step ahead of him, by making the ultimate association Jong before Fabio does. Just as the spectators of El syeno de la razon fol low Buero's alternating associations of 11 Saturno 11 One final association remains to be made between Velazquez/s ~ and Arachne and Buero/s Dialogo secrete, which regards the presence of their creators in their works. In his first description of the painting, Fabio says: "Velazquez was a mysterious man, and so is his painting. I imagine he must have been laughing to himself, thinking about all those people who were going to lose themselves in his painting and end up completely confused!• <47> Fabio, of course, is speaking for Buero, referring to his own play. Fabio, speaking of Velazquez, continues: "The painter transfers the Classic fable to his own times, or perhaps to all times" <48>. Likewise, Buero transfers the seventeenth-century painting to his own times, or perhaps all times. Buero clearly sees his own creative process to be analogous to Velazquez/s. Velazquez took the classical fable and set it in his own times. Buero, then, takes the classic painting and makes it relevant to his own times. Furthermore, one might wonder if maybe Buero does not see himself as one of the spinners in the foreground of Las hilanderas, spinning his yarns and controlling the fate of the characters he creates as he manipulates their various 134 thought processes regarding which ones among them are playing out which roles in the group of people in the background. The association between Velazquez and Buero is long-standing. In his play Las meninas, Buero has a character describe this painting to Velazquez as 11 a serene picture, but with all the sadness of Spain captured inside. 11 Domenech, in his introduction to that play, states his belief that this statement is descriptive of Buero's plays taken as a whole C25>. In Las menlnas, Buero uses Velazquez directly as an alienation technique to conunent on modern-day censorship, thereby using the painting to tie the present to the past. Similarly, in Dlalogo secrete (whose title could also refer to Buero's own reflective interior dialogue between Buero-critic and Buero-artist on the role of the critic>, the Velazquez painting--in truly integrative fashion--ties the present to the past CVelazquez's time> and beyond, to classicism. Velazquez, symbol of Spain at the peak of its artistry: the bridge between antiquity and today. Using Dlalogo secrete as a representative of Buero's work in the last fifteen years, it can be concluded that Buero's retreat from totalizing immersion to using it sporadically achieves many objectives. ·First, it ls comprehensible to the audience. The immersive foci are sensorially-related (vision, hearing) as opposed to being related to more conceptual states of being (insanity, death>. The changes in perspective which immersion produces are delineated clearly and, for the most part, implemented consistently. The super-themes are evoked strongly by the concentrated efforts of the 135 Ceo-) sub-themes. Finally, distancing V-effects and inverting immersion-effects are produced through the same visual source, creating a synergetic relationship between distancing and immersion, often considered to be thoroughly antipathetic styles. 136 NOTES 1 This is a very loose translation of some of Buero/s thoughts which he published in an article entitled "Respuesta" ("Response"] in Estreno 5.1 (1979>: 10. The purpose of the article was to clarify what his his objectives were in writing La detonacion. That he felt compelled to provide a public "explication de texte" is, perhaps, indicative of the play/s opacity and Inaccessibility. 2 A couple of interesting things occur in this sequence. The color choice, green, symbolically suggests in Spanish at least two things regarding Aurora/s personality and temperament: inexperience and tenacity. If Aurora truly has painted her face green, It may be Buero/s way of depleting metaphorically callow rashness and Inexperience. However, If It is green only to Fabio/s perspective 11 uno : I lteral ly, "to make someone green,• but f lguratively, "to rake someone over the coals." In this climactic showdown between these two characters, It ls possible that Fabio sees In Aurora/s face his mirror image--his own green face--resulting from his being 0 raked over the coals." Her tenacious and Ingenuous pursuit of "truth 11 --a youthful ("green"> act committed by a rash, inexperienced <"green"> individual--has paid off, as Fabio is left discredited <11 green 11 >. 3 All of the reference material used In this thesis regarding this painting ls In Spanl~h. The English equivalent for the Spanish name 137 uPalas Atenea" was not located, so the name "Palas" ls maintained. The source for the painting itself is Ovid (Metamorphoses>. 4 The source for these ideas of Jose Ortega y Gassett's is not clearly stated in my reference materials. Suffice it to say that they are referred to without specific citations both in Iglesias-Feijoo's introduction to Dlalogo secreto, and in the background data on Velazquez's La tabula de Palas y Aracne in a book entitled La I lave del Prado CThe Key of the Prado MusuemJ. CONCLUSION October 14, 1949, marked the premiere performance of Antonio Buero Vallejo's first play Historla de una escalera. The overwhelmingly positive critical response to the play, bolstered by soaring box-off ice receipts, confirmed Buero/s status as the f lrst important Spanish playwright since Federico Garcia Lorca. Over the following four years, Buero continued to meet the expectations of the critics as well as satiate the public/s appetite for his plays through the production of, remarkably, six additonal plays, establishing his reputation as the premier voice of the Spanish people. Forty-six years after his impressive debut, Buero continues to present his views on contemporary society through a tireless thematic focus. Many promising playwrights falter due to their Inability to reconceptualize their thematic attack. Qualitative analysis regarding the content of his plays aside, the Indisputable genius of Buero Iles not only in his ability but also his determination to redirect his point of view in original and provocative ways. One of his principal assets as a professional In the theatre stems from his knack for self-expression In an Innately visual manner. The many years of training as a painter forged in him an understanding of how inner reflections can be outwardly presented. His plays bespeak a profound understanding of 138 139 the raw materials of his trade--plot, characterization, etc.--, but his results outweigh the sum of their parts. This is due to his adeptness at addressing his themes from this fundamentally visual perspective and presenting them likewise: at a Buero play, audiences literally come to 11 see 11 his point of view. The 11 Immerslon Technique" became Buero/s most reliable means for deepening the connection between the protagonists and audiences of his plays. He successfully sidesteps criticism of overusing the 11 Immersion Technique 11 by adroitly linking its implementation to both contemporary concepts and timeless issues regarding the human experience, proving time and again the remarkable resilience of his "Immersion Technique. 11 In his plays, Buero explores through immersion the link between history and contemporary life, incorporating aspects of both historically-verified as well as contemporary theatrical traditions. Many of the ingredients to his plays, then, are age-old, tried and true theatre conventions, but the 11 Immersion Technlque 11 ls Buero/s trademark manner of proving that "everything old is new again. 11 So much of the studies on Buero make mention of his reliance on the same thematic focus. On the one hand, some conclude that its rigidity has made Buero/s theatre intolerably and tiresomely stale. On the other are critics who absolve him of this perceived short-coming by praising his explorations with immersion. Mary Rice/s Distancia e lnmersion en el teatro de Buero Vallejo [Distance and Iuunersion in the Theatre of Buero Valle.ioJ is the most thorough look 140 at Buero/s uses of immersion to date. Even the critics who praise him most--like Luis Iglesias-Feijoo, who finds in Buero/s plays a noteworthy evolution of themes and ideas consistently expressing themselves in original ways--fail to acknowledge the role that immersion has in the expression of theme. Even in these positive responses lie implicit allegations that immersion is more or less Buero/s saving grace, little more than proof of a certain theatrical flair. Rice's study indicates that the more pronounced the immersion, the better the play. Readers new' to Buero may conclude that, despite the work with immersion, his theatre must be, in the end, not merely static but inert. This study demonstrates that Buero's experimentation with immersion is a conscious attempt to reconceptualize thematic expression, that more than anything, immersion is Buero/s means of reworking themes. Buero/s reversion in the use of immersion in his last five pJays--addressed together ln one paragraph of Rice's study from 1992--demonstrates an awareness on Buero's part that immersion, when overemphasized, impedes the transmission of theme. He seems to be somewhat conflicted regarding the role of immersion. On the one hand, his continued use of it proves that he finds it to be a beneficial means of creating plays that are not simply interesting philosophical debates but also thrillingly theatrical pieces. On the other hand, his reversal to earlier uses of immersion perhaps indicates a realization that immersion best facilitates the communication of ideas and themes when it is implemented sparingly as 141 a "coup de theatre." Further study ls required to measure immersion's effect on audiences to corroborate the underlying hypothesis of this study. This is to say, that immersion seemingly is most effective· when: it is instantaneous, its signals are easily Identifiable and consistently employed, it relies on immersive signals which are sensorially- rather than conceptually-based, and its target--the audience--remains consciously aware that it is undergoing immersion. In conclusion, the intention of this study is to demonstrate that Buero's exploration of thematic expression through immersion is an ever-changing process which immeasurably supplements the expression of his ideas through boldly theatrical means. The major influences on Buero--both his traditional Spanish ancestors as well as his international contemporaries--are often easily perceived in his works. Yes, his thematic material is unquestionably static. Still, Buero's many ingenious and stylized means of expressing It yield a theatre that ls all his own. BIBLIOGRAPHY I. PRIMARY SOURCES A. Plays by Antonio Buero ValleJo Cln order of performance. The date following the titles of the plays ls that of the premiere performance.) Historla de una escalera. October 14, 1949. With Las palabras en la arena. Madrid: Alfil, 1952. rpt.: In Antonio Buero Yalle.!o: Teatro II. Ser. Gran Teatro de! Mundo. Buenos Aires: Losada, 1959. rpt.: Domenech, Ricardo, pref. Hlstoria de una escalera y Las meninas. 9th ed. Madrid: Espasa-Ca!pe, 1975 .. Las palabras en la arena. December 19, 1949. With Historia de una escalera. Madrid: Alfi!, 1952. rpt.: Garcia Lorenzo, Luciano, pref. La detonacion y Las palabras en la arena. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1979. En la ardiente oscyrldad. December 1, 1950. Madrid: Alfil, 1951. rpt.: In Antonio Buero Vallejo: Teatro I. Ser. Gran Teatro del Mundo. Buenos Aires: Losada, 1959. La teledora de syenos. January 11, 1952. Madrid: Alfll, 1951. rpt.: In Antonio Byero Yal!ejo: Teatro II. Ser. Gran Teatro del Mundo. Buenos Aires: Losada, 1959. La senal gue se espera. May 21, 1952. Madrid: Alfll, 1952. Casi un cuento de hadas. January 10, 1953. Madrid: Alfil, 1953. Madruqada. December 9, 1953. In Antonio Byero Yallelo: Teatro I. Ser. Gran Teatro del Mundo. Buenos Aires: Losada, 1959. Irene. o el tesoro. December 14, 1954. Madrid: Alfi!, 1955. rpt.: In Antonio Buero Vallejo: Teatro II. Ser. Gran Teatro del Mundo. Buenos Aires: Losada, 1959. 142 143 Hoy es fiesta. September 20, 1956. Madrid: Alfi!, 1957. rpt.: In Antonio Buero Valle.lo: Teatro I. Ser. Gran Teatro de! Mundo. Buenos Aires: Losada, 1959. Las cartas boca abalo. November 5, 1957. Madrid: Alfi!, 1958. rpt.: In Antonio Buero Vallejo: Teatro I. Ser. Gran Teatro de! Mundo. Buenos Aires: Losada, 1959. Un sonador para un pueblo. December 18, 1958. Madrid: Alfi!, 1959. rpt.: In Antonio Buero Yallelo: Teatro II. Ser. Gran Teatro de! Mundo. Buenos Aires: Losada, 1959. Las meninas. December 9, 1960. Madrid: Alfil, 1961. rpt.: ·Domenech, Ricardo, pref. Historia de yna escalera y Las meninas. 9th ed. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1975. El concierto de San Ovldio. November 16, 1962. Madrid: Alfi!, 1963. rpt: In Buero Vallejo: Teatro selecto. Ed. Luce Moreau Arrabal. Madrid: Escellcer, 1966. Aventura en lo gels. October 1, 1963. Madrid: Puerta del Sol, 1955. .Ml.1.Q. CUnproduced) Madrid: Alfi!, 1968. El sueno de la razon. February 6, 1970. Madrid: Escellcer, 1970. rpt.: With El traga!uz. Coleccion Austral. Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 1970. La LLeqada de los dloses. September 17, 1971. Iglesias Feijoo, Luis, pref. 4th ed. Madrid: Catedra, 1980. 144 La fundacion. January 15, 1974. In EJ concierto de San Oyidio v La fundaclon. Colecclon Austral. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1974. La detonacion. September 20, 1977. Garcia Lorenzo, Luciano, pref. La detonacion y Las paJabras en la arena. Coleccion Austral. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1979. Jueces en la noche. October 2, 1979. Ruggeri Marchetti, Magda, pref. Madrid: Vox, 1979. El terror lnmoyll. B. Translations of Buero's plays The Foundation [La fundacionJ. In Antonio Buero Val!eJo: Three Plavs. Marion Peter Holt, trans. Toronto: Trinity UP, 1985. In the Burning Darkness [En la ardiente oscuridadl. In Antonio Buero Va!leJo: Three Plays. Marion Peter Holt, trans. Toronto: Trinity UP, 1985. Las meninas. In Antonio Buero Vallejo: Three Plays. Marion Peter Holt, trans. Toronto: Trinity UP, 1985. The Music Window [Myslca cercanal. Holt, Marlon Peter, trans. Estreno Collection of Contemporary Spanish Plays. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State UP, 1994. Tbe Shot CLa detonacionl. Johnston, David, trans. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips, 1989. The Sleep of Reason CEl syeno de la razonJ. In Antonio Buero Va!leJo: Three Plays. Marlon Peter Holt, trans. Toronto: Trinity UP, 1985. C. Articles by Buero. "Desde Espana." Estreno 1.3 C1975>: 13-17. "Obi lgada precision acerca del imposibi l lsmo." Primer acto 15 (July/August 1960>: 1-6. "A proposlto de Aventura en lo grls." Teatro 9 "Recapitulacion subjetiva." In Entre la cruz y la espada: en torno a la Espana de posgyerra. Ed. Jose Manuel Lopez de Ablada. Madrid: Gredos, 1984, 57-69. "Sobre la tragedia." Entretlens sur Jes Lettres el les Arts 22 ( 1963>: 52-61. "El teatro de Buero Vallejo visto por Buero Vallejo." Primer acto 1 CApril 1957>: 4-6. "Teatros de camara." Teatro 1 CNovember 1952>: 34. 146 II. SECONDARY SOURCES. A. Books. Bejel, Emilio. Buero Vallejo: lo moral. lo social v lo metatisico. Montevideo: Institute de Estudios Superiores, 1972. Benitez Claros, Rafael. Vision de la literatura espanola. Madrid: Rialp, 1963. Borel, Jean-Paul. El teatro de lo imposible. Madrid: Guadarrama, 1966. Cortina, Jose Ramon. El arte dramatico de Antonio Buero Yallejo. Madrid: Gredos, 1969. Devoto, Juan Bautista. Antonio Buero Vallejo: un dramaturgo de! moderno teatro espanol. Cludad Eva Peron, Argentina: Elite, 1954. Domenech, Ricardo. El teatro de Buero Yallelo: una meditacion espanola. Madrid: Gredo~, 1973. Dowd, Catherine Elizabeth. Realismo trascendente en cuatro tragedias sociales de Antonio Buero ValleJo. Valencia: Estudios de Hispanofila, Univ. of North Carolina, 1974. Garcia Lorenzo, Luciano. El teatro espaool hoy, Barcelona: Planeta Edl tora Naclonal, 1975. Garcia Pavon, Francisco. El teatro social en Espana C1895-1962>. Madrid: Taurus, 1963. Garcia Templado, Jose. Llteratura de la postgyerra: el teatro. Madrid: Cincel, 1981. Giuliano, William. Buero Yallejo. Sastre v el teatro de su tiempo. New York: Las Americas, 1971. Gonzalez-Cobos Davila, Carmen. Antonio Buero Yallelo: el hombre y su Qbr.a. Salamanca: Univ. de Salamanca, 1979. Guerrero Zamora, Juan. Historia del teatro contemporaneo. Vol. IV. Barcelona: Juan Flors, 1967. Halsey, Martha T. Antonio Buero Yalle!o. New York: Twayne, 1973. 147 Holt, Marion P. The Contemporarv Spanish Theater (1949-1972). Boston: Twayne, 1975. Hormigon, Juan Antonio. Teatro. realismo y cultura de masas. Madrid: Cuadernos para el Dialogo, 1974. IglesJas FelJoo, LuJs. La travectorJa dramatlca de AntonJo Buero Valle!o. Santiago de Compostela: Univ. de Santiago de Compostela, 1982. Isasi Angulo, Amado C. Dlalogos de! teatro espanol de Ia posguerra. Madrid: Ayuso, 1974. Marquerie, Alfredo. Veinte anos de teatro en Espana. Madrid: Nacional, 1959. Mathias, Julio. Buero Vallejo, Madrid: Epesa, 1975. Melero Manglano, Luis. Teatro espanol contemporaneo. Madrid: Nacional, 1974. Nicholas, Robert L. The Tragic Stages of Antonio Byero Vallejo. Estudios de Hispanofila. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina, 1972. PaJon Mecloy, Enrique. Byero Vallelo y el antiheroe. Una critica de la razon creadora. Madrid: Breogan, 1986. Perez Minik, Domingo. Debates sobre el teatro espanol contemporaneo. Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Goya, 1953. ------Teatro europeo contemporaneo. Madrid: Guadarrama, 1961. Perez-Stansfield, Maria Pilar. Dlrecciones de teatro espanol de posguerra: ryptyra con el teatro byrgues y radicalismo contestatarlo. Madrid: Porrua Turanzas, 1983. Puente Samaniego, Pilar de la. Antonio Buero Vallejo. Proceso a la historia de Espana. Salamanca: Univ. de Salamanca, 1989. Rice, Mary. Distancia e inmersion en el teatro de Byero Vallejo. American University Studies, Series II, Romance Languages and Literature vol. 169. New York: Lang, 1992. Ruiz Ramon, Francisco. Hlstoria del teatro espanol: siglo xx. Madrid: Catedra, 1975. 148 Ruple, Jocelyn. Antonio Buero Yalle.io: The First Fifteen Years. New York: Eliseo Torres and Sons, 1971. Torrente Ballester, Gonzalo. Panorama de la literatura espanola contemporanea. Madrid: Guadarrama, 1956. Unamuno, Miguel de. Del sentlmlento traglco de la vlda. New York: Americas, 1959. Urbano, Victoria. El teatro espanol y sus directrices contemporaneas. Madrid: Nacional, 1972. Valbuena Prat, Angel. Historia del teatro espanol. Barcelona: Noguer, 1956. Verdu de Gregorio, Joaquin. La luz y la oscuridad en el teatro de Buero Valle.io. Barcelona: Ariel, 1977. Willett, John, ed. and trans. Brecht on Theatre. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964. B• Art l c I es . Alfonso, Carlos. 11 Buero Vallejo ante el problema del publico y su distancia." Estafeta literaria 560 C1975): 8-9. Anderson, Farris. "The Ironic Structure of Historia de una escalera." Kentucky Romance Quarterlv XVIII Bejel, Eml I lo. "Catarsls y distanciacion en Buero Val Jejo." Hispanofila 48 C1973): 37-45. Borel, Jean-Paul. "Buero Val Jejo o Jo imposible concreto historico." El teatro de Jo imposible. Madrid: Guadarrama, 1966. 225-78. ------"Buero Val I ejo: Teatro y pol 1tlea. 11 Revlsta de occldente 2.17 (1964): 226-34. 11 11 ------Buero Va I I ej o mas a I I a de I os Pi roneos. ~ 79-82 ( 1963) : 15-1 7. Casa, Frank P. 11 The Darkening Vision: The Latter Plays of Buero Vallejo." Estreno 5.1 C1979): 30-33. 149 Ce Jayo, Gabriel. 11 A Antonio Beuro Val lejo. 11 A9Qt.Q 41-42 (1960): 3. Delgado, Fernando G. 11 Entrevista con Buero Vallejo. 11 Insula 31.361 (1976): 4. Devoto, Juan Bautista. "La vivencia dramatica de Buero Vallejo." Teatro 10 11 Crltlca de Las menlnas. 11 Cuadernos hlspanoamerlcanos 133 <1961): 119-24. ------"Incise sabre teatro." Insula 21.170 <1961): 4. "Notas sobre EI sueno de la razon. 11 Primer acto 117 ( 1970 ) : 6-11. 11 ------Notas sabre teatro.° Cuadernos hlspanoamerlcanos 195 ( 1966): 550-55. Dowling, John. "Buero Vallejo/s Interpretation of Goya/s /Black Paintings./ 11 Hispania 56 <1973), 449-57. Fernandez-Santos, Angel. 11 EI enigma de El tragaluz. 0 Primer acto 90 ------"Una entrevista con Buero Vallejo sobre El tragaluz. 11 Primer acto 90 Foster, David William. 11 Hlstorla de una escalera: A Tragedy about Abou 1ia. 11 Renascence 17 .1 <1964): 3-10. Francoll, Eduardo. 11 La forma dramatica de Bertold Brecht y Buero Vallejo. 11 Reflexion 2 1.1 C1972): 81-91. 150 Garcia Pavon, Francisco. 11 Semblanza de A. Buero Val lejo. 11 A.9Qr.a 79-82 (1963): 24-25. Gonzalez Lopez, Emilio. 11 En la ardiente oscuridad de Buero Val lejo. 11 Revista hispanica moderna 21 (1955): 340. Halsey, Martha T. "The Dreamer in the Tragic Theater of Antonio Buero Vallejo.• Reylsta de estudlos hlspanicos 2.2 (1968>: 265-85. 0 0 ------Goya in the Theater: Buero's El sµeno de la razon. Kentucky Romance Quarterly 18.2 (1971>: 207-221. ------"Lack of Conmunication in Two Plays of Buero Vallejo.• Romance Notes 10.2 <1969): 233-37. ------. "'Light' and 'Darkness' as Dramatic Symbols is Two Tragedies of Buero Vallejo." Hispania 50 CMarch 1967>: 63-68. Herrero, Fernando. "Brecht en Espana." Primer acto 174 (1974): 4-5. Ilarraz, Felix G. "Antonio Buero Vallejo: Pesimlsmo o esperanza? 11 Reyista de estudios hispanlcos 1 (1967): 5-16. Jimenez Martos, Luis. 11 Entrevlsta: Buero Vallejo entre la tragedia y la esperanza." Resena de llteratura. arte y espectaculos 11.77 (1974>: 3-9. Johnson, D. 11 Posibles paralelos entre la obra de Unamuno y el teatro 'historlco' de Buero Vallejo." Cuadernos hispanlcos 129 (1982>: 340-64. Lafuente Ferrari, Enrique. 1 Palabras en honor a Buero Val Jejo. 11 El teatro de Buero Yallejo. By Ricardo Domenech. Madrid: Gredos, 1973. 156. Lagos, Concha. "Dos romances de ciego para A. Buero Vallejo." A92rA 79-82 (1963): 40-41. Lott, Robert E. 11 Functional Flexibility and Ambiguity ln Buero Vallejo's Plays." Symposium 20 (1966>: 150-62. Magana de Schevill, Isabel. 0 Lo tragico en el teatro de Buero Vallejo." Hispanofila 3 (September 1969): 51-58. Manclsldor, Jose. "La literatura espanola bajo el signo de Franco." Cuadernos aroericanos 63.3 <1952>: 26-48. 151 Manzanares de Cirre, M. 11 El real ismo social de Buero Val lejo. 11 Reyista hispanica moderna 27 <1961): 320-24. Monleon, Jose. "Entrevista con Buero Vallejo: de la repugnante y necesaria violencia a la repugnante e inutil crueldad." Primer ~ 167 (1974): 4-13. ------Introduction. Teatro. By Antonio Buero Vallejo. Madrid: Taurus, 1968. 13-29. Muniz, Carlos. "Antonio Buero Vallejo, ese hombre comprometido. 11 Primer acto 38 Noble, Beth W. "Sound in the Plays of Buero Vallejo. 11 Hispania 61 "Historia de una escalera: veintecinco anos mas tarde. 11 Estudios dedicados al profesor Mariano Baquero Goyanes. Murcia: UP de Murcia, 1974. 375-98. Perez Minik, Domingo. "Buero Vallejo o la restauraclon de la mascara." Teatro europeo contemporaneo. Madrid: Guadarrama, 1961. 381-96. Podol, P. L. "Real lty Perception and Stage Setting in Grisela Gambaro/s Las paredes and Antonio Buero Vallejo/s La fundacion." Modern Drama 24 <1981>: 44-53. Queizan, Eduardo. "El espectador en el escenario." Primer acto 167 ( 1974): 14-16. Rodriguez Castellano, Juan. •un nuevo comedlografo espanol: A. Buero Vallejo." Hispania 37 Ruiz Ramon, Francisco. 11 Buero Vallejo y la pasion de la verdad. 11 Historia del teatro espanol: siglo XX· Madrid: Alianza, 1971. 377-416. "De El sueno de la razon a La detonacion." Estreno 5.1 (1979): 7-8. Sanchez, Roberto G. 11 Buero Val Jejo y la sensibi 1idad histrionica. 11 Cuaciernos hispanoamericanos 414 (1984>: 73-83. Sastre, Alfonso. 11 Teatro imposlble y pacto social. 11 Primer acto 14 (1960): 1-2. Schwartz, Kessel. 11 Posibilismo and imposibilismo. 11 Revista hispanlca moderna 34 (1968>: 436-45. Segura, Florencio. "El sueno de la razon. 0 Resena 7.33 Shel nut, WI 11 lam L. 0 Symbol ism in Buero/s Historia de una escalera. 11 Hispania 42 Torrente Ballester, Gonzalo. "Antonio Buero Val leJo. 11 Teatro espanol contemporaneo. Madrid: Guadarrama, 1957. 101-04, 325-32. 0 11 ------Nota de introduccion al teatro de Buero Val 1eJo. Primer ~ 38 (1962): 11-14. Van Praag-Chatralne, Jacqueline. 11 Tendencias del teatro espanol de hoy: Antonio Buero Vallejo y el /buerismo/ .• Cuadernos aroericanos 130.5 (1963): 254-63. VI Jar, Jean. 11 Reflexlon aqul y ahora sobre el teatro espanol comprometido." Primer acto 51 <1964): 18-24. Weingarten, B. E. 1 Dramatic Point of View and Antonio Buero Vallejo/s La fundacion.• Hispanic Journal 5.2 <1984>: 145-53.