Playwright Juan Mayorga illuminated a blurry reality in an interview with RTVE.es as Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts last October. The most represented living Spanish author he criticized the “cornering” of theater literature on the omnipresent hegemony of storytelling, including the border with other genres such as “travel books or gastronomy”.
“Something I consider unfair because a lot of good theater is written in this country and in our language”, Mayorga defended that with the prize, which traditionally avoids dramaturgy, he exalted the brilliance of the theatrical act.
Conchita Piña, one of the founders of the Antígona theater and philosophy publishing house, agrees with Mayorga’s diagnosis. Dramatic literature “is very much alive” even if somehow “invisible”.
16 years ago three partners opened Antígona in Madrid almost as a pure act of idealism and love at the tables. They publish contemporary theater and recognize a flourishing of specialized publishers, especially in the last decade, trying to capture interested readers who move from the stage to the book.
“We are very attached to stage reality and we are asked for many jobs that have just come out. Sometimes companies or production houses give the lyrics after the functions are finished. This has generated that the theater spectator becomes a reader and thus enter the catalogue”, says Piña and exemplifies with the recent publication of Long live Moliere by Álvaro Tato (Ron Lalá) at the Teatro de la Abadía, which raised the curtain a few weeks ago.
At the heart of this underground effervescence are playwrights such as José Ignacio Tofé, general secretary of the Association of Playwrights, who analyzes how to approach a text which treasures its own metalanguage with maximum fun.
“I think there’s a bit of a lack of habit. When you read a play, you recreate the production in your head and it’s as if you were the director. It’s a very good game and has many possibilities,” he says about the cog of the realm of convention and imagination.
Editor Conchita Piña encourages reluctant readers as an authoritative voice in the experience: “Everyone who was reluctant later told us it’s very easy because she’s currently reading, it has that specificity and doesn’t get lost in descriptions like the novel”, and adds that Spanish works are requested by China, Italy or Greece in a global leap that is linked to the historical and nourished theatrical tradition of our country.
New theatrical currents
Calderón de la Barca, Valle-Inclán or Lope de Vega are just an example of infinite quality: the golden names of the Spanish classic mark the entrance to the theater book in the study plans but the trace is often nuanced.
To better cover the geniuses “with a guide”, he knocks down Tofé, and advises the Phoenix of Wits to open its mouth. “Lope’s comedies are liked The dog in the manger they are very accessible, what happens with the classics is that they seem to speak to you in a foreign language and the best thing is to make a nice montage, then you understand what they are saying to you ”.
And which authors should we keep track of in the current scenario? “There are works from the Microteatro de Teatro Breve that were made in a hall in Madrid called the Microteatro Por Dinero and are now published. They are short and you can read them like a storybook. Lucía Carballal, which is a very naturalistic and close theater where you find very recognizable characters. Another author is Tomás Afán who makes short comedies, has a great sense of humor and is very funny. Then there’s Eva Redondo who asks you to look closely and makes a very interesting analysis of the company”.
The classics are often the entrance to the play book Getty
Specialists certify the explosion of variety that outlines the contemporary scene with “monologues, comedy, street theatre, pièces performative” come on. A multi-lane showcase that is reflected in the recent Theatrical Book Hall, a forum for dramatic literature, stimulated by the explosion of ideas bubbling up in drama schools.
“The theater must be the mirror of the moment and it speaks to you about this now. This is seen in the new currents and I think it is the key: to publish texts and bet on them. We collaborate with RESAD (Royal Superior School of Dramatic Art) to give visibility and find new values. We have a theater collection line for teenagers because many playwrights write for them,” explains the curator.
While José Ignacio Tofé contributes the author’s perspective from the bowels of delayed creation. “The writing and production processes in the theater are very long, from when you have finished the show until you see it staged it can take years, but when it is already staged and see that the public like it all makes sense”, emphasizes the creator of pieces such as The treasurer or General essay.
Perhaps the only way to delve into the mystery is to return to Lorca who secured it “Theatre is poetry that comes out of the book to become human”.
