J the DRAMATIC PRESENTATION of LIBERTY J in the THEATER of ALFONSO SASTRE
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This dissertation has been 69-11,646 j microfilmed exactly as received HARPER, Gandra Nacci, 1938- j THE DRAMATIC PRESENTATION OF LIBERTY j IN THE THEATER OF ALFONSO SASTRE. [Portions of Text in Spanish]. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1968 Language and Literature, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan 0 Copyright by Sandra Nacci Harper THE DRAMATIC PRESENTATION OF LIBERTY IN THE THEATER OF ALFONSO SASTRE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Sandra Nacci Harper, B.S., M.A, ****** The Ohio State University 1968 Approved by Adviser Department of Romance Languages ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Marta Frosch for her guidance and inspiration in the preparation of this dissertation. Grateful acknowledgment is due Professors Aristobulo Pardo and Margarita Levisi for their careful reading of the text and their helpful suggestions. VITA June 28, 1938 Born--Fostoria, Ohio 1959 ....... B.S., Thu Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1959-1962 ... Teacher of Spanish, French, and English, The Columbus Public Schools, Columbus, Ohio 1962-1965 ..• Teaching Assistant, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1965 ....... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1965-1968 ... Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1968-1969 ••• Instructor, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Spanish Literature Studies in the History of the Spanish Language. Professor Kenneth Scholberg Studies in Medieval Spanish Literature. Professor Kenneth Scholberg Studies in 16th Century Spanish Literature. Professor Elias Rivers Studies in 17th Century Spanish Literature. Professors Elias Rivers and Juan Loveluck Studies in 19th and 20th Century Spanish Literature. Professors Marta Frosch, Kenneth Scholberg, and Juan Loveluck Studies in Spanish American Literature. Professors Marta Frosch and Juan Loveluck iii CONTENTS Page Chapter ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................... ii VITA...................................................... iii I. THE THEATER OF ALFONSO SASTRE, A DRAMATIC STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY AND JUSTICE................. I Alfonso Sastre, dramatist in search of liberty.... 1 Alfonso Sastre, man of the theater............... 4 Alfonso Sastre, "dramaturgo comprometido'1........ 20 II. THE DRAMATIC PRESENTATION OF LIBERTY IN THE THEATER OF ALFONSO SASTRE........................ 28 War ...................... 32 ' Revolution....................................... 84 IV. CONCLUSION...................................... 156 BIBLIOGRAPHY 159 CHAPTER I THE THEATER OF ALFONSO SASTRE, A DRAMATIC STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY AND JUSTICE The purpose of this study is to analyze the dramatic presen tation of the theme of liberty in the theater of Alfonso Sastre. Liberty has come to be a major theme of the life and works of Alfonso Sastre, for just as the characters in his plays are rebels in search of liberty, so this playwright has also become known as a "rebel", a "revolutionary", or,_in other words, "Sastre ha representado generosamente al inconformismo dramatico— revolucionario o simplemente rebelde--mas consistente de nuestro pais."'*' Alfonso Sastre. dramatist in search of liberty. Since the performance of Escuadra hacia la muerte on March 18, 1953, Alfonso Sastre has been acclaimed one of the two most important dramatists o active in Spain today. Recognition of this dramatist has not been limited to Spain, for several of Sastre's plays have been presented 3 in Paris, Hamburg, Lisbon, Athens, and Moscow. In addition, in the introduction to the anthology The New Theater of Europe, which ^Jose Monleon, "Un testimonio apasionado," Primer Ac to, No. 3 (1964), p. 7. - 2Anthony Pasquariello, "Censorship in the Spanish theater and Alfonso Sastre's the Condemned Squad," Theater Annual, No. 19 (1962), p. 2.. ^"Bibliografia," Primer Acto, No. 3 (1964), p. 130. includes Sastre's Ana Kleiber, Robert W. Corrigan recognizes this playwright as one of the most important dramatists writing today. Sastre is one of the most talked-about, daring, and controversial playwrights to appear in Post-Civil-War theater. Domingo Perez Minik has appropriately expressed Sastre's position in the follow ing manner, En el ultimo deceniodel teatro espanol, Alfonso Sastre ha sido--y es--uno de los dramaturgos mas discutidos. Casi me atreverfa a decir que el mas.^ Part of the controversy surrounding this dramatist stems from the difficulty in finding an adequate characterization of him. Sastre is a dramatist of many faces, for he may be characterized in varied ways. He is a dramatist in search of a stage, for although Alfonso Sastre has been very productive since 1953,^ and has gained more recognition as a playwright and critic, there have been many limitations and obstacles placed in his path. Domingo Perez Minik has emphasized Sastre's growing importance, for he has said, "No hay ninguna historia de literatura contemporanea o libro crftico sobre nuestro escenario en que no aparezca el nombre de Alfonso Sastre."^ Indeed, his name has become more familiar to the public, yet many of his works still remain virtually unknown. At times Alfonso Sastre seems to be a playwright in search of a stage, 4 Ricardo Domenech,- "Alfonso Sastre, un dramaturgo en marcha," Esta feta Literaria. No. 113 (1958), p. 4. **See "Cronologia de Alfonso Sastre," Tres dramas espa'noles : teatro (Paris, 1965), pp. 13-21. ^Domingo Perez Minik, "Se trata de Alfonso Sastre, dramaturgo melancolico de la revolucion," Primer Acto: coleccion de teatro, No. 3 (Madrid, 1964), p. 13. a situation that Juan Emilio Aragones has lamented, Quiza no exista en Espana un dramaturgo tan preocupado como el por dotar al teatro de autentica proyeccidn popular y acaso no haya otro que, con obra ya relativamente extensa y consistente, siga siendo practicamente desconocido para la "inmensa mayoria".^ O Sastre has also been described as "un hombre en la tierra de nadie", for he is playwright, sociologist, author, and man of the theater. His theater has the pre-requisites of great drama, the conflict of wills, aesthetic appeal, and enlightenment. The themes of his plays are primarily social ones: liberty, responsibility, and authority, and this social preoccupation, as one critic remarks, "...puede calificarsele de profesional en cierta forma de sociologiTa— y resultar al mismo tiempo insolidario de quienes en otros terrenos Q distintos al suyo se preocupan de los problemas sociales."7 In addition, when viewed as a whole, his works represent a plea for liberty from injustice, a cry for change, yet these are not thesis plays; there are no solutions offered. Sastre is each of these characterizations and none in particular; he is still more, a "revolutionary" seeking change in theater and society, and he is a "dramaturgo comprometido", for his theater is in part the expression of his concern with current social-political problems. He conceives 7Juan Emilio Aragones, "Alfonso Sastre y el 'realismo profundizado1," Punta Europa, No. 83 (1963), pp. 34-35. ^Eduardo Haro Tecglen, "Introduccion a Alfonso Sastre," Primer Acto, No. 3 (1964), p. 72. 9Ibid.» P. 72. of theater as an instrument of change, "una mision urgente y trascendente". Alfonso Sastre is also an "aguafiestas" in the theater as were Cervantes, Galdos, and Jacinto Grau.^ In view of all these descriptions, and considering both the life and dramatic works of this man, it is my opinion that the best way to characterize the total Sastre is as an individual involved in a struggle for liberty, liberty of the Spanish theater from conformity, liberty of expression, and liberty from social injustice. Liberty is the major theme in the dramatic works of Alfonso Sastre, and this same word may be used to characterize his dramatic career. In effect, Sastre's plays and dramatic theory are the concrete manifestations of this struggle as revealed in the following discussion. Alfonso Sastre, man of the theater. Alfonso Sastre is a man of the theater— critic, theorist, and playwright--for of this generation he has taken perhaps the greatest initiative to not only change the course of the theater, but also to re-educate the attitudes of the spectators. The influence of Sastre has been noted by many critics, Almost singlehandedly he is striving to change the content of Spain's theater and the tastes of its audiences. With the possible exception of Buero Vallejo, no other post- Civil War playwright has had an impact upon his generation even remotely comparable. Sastre's achievements include seventeen edited plays and numerous *®Alfredo Marquerie, Veinte anos de teatro en Espana (Madrid, 1959), p. 205. ^^Perez Minik, "Se trata de," p. 11. ■^asquariello, "Censorship," p. 22. articles on dramatic theory and criticism. The latter may be found in the following periodicals: Ia Hora, Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos, Correo Literario. Revista Espanola, and Primer Acto. His books include Drama y sociedad and Anatom fa del realismo (a third, Estetica como crxtica de la imaginacion is in preparation). Alfonso Sastre was born in Madrid in 1926 and wrote his first works for the theater in 1943. Since these first works were lost, one may say that his career officially began in 1946 with the presentation of Ha sonado la muerte (written in conjunction with Medardo Fraile) and Uranio 235. These are experimental one-act plays which were presented as part of the movement Arte Nuevo, and Sastre's theories