The Theatre of Antonio Buero Vallejo

Book excerpt: This monograph examines the complex relationship between Antonio Buero Vallejo [1916 - 2000] and the ideologies of Francoist and post-Franco Spain. This monograph examines the complex relationship between Antonio Buero Vallejo [1916 - 2000] and the ideologies of Francoist and post-Franco Spain. The central focus of the study is Buero's political theatre and his employment ofmyth and history to challenge the notion of an España eterna. It also considers Buero's creation of his own myths and his revision of history in order to rationalize and justify his own stance. In his determination towrite and stage committed drama in a repressive society, Buero's choice, with its inherent contradictions and ambiguities, was posibilismo. This book looks at this pragmatic employment of language and silence, both in his art and in his dealings with the censors and with other representatives of the hegemony and analyses how posibilismo both aided and limited him. The monograph also considers Buero's neglected post-Franco theatre, examining the reasons for its initial negative reception and its renewed importance in today's Spain. In these days of digging up the past, Buero's post-Franco insistence on rejecting the pacto de olvido is perhaps more relevantthan ever before. CATHERINE O'LEARY lectures in Spanish at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth