Historia de la dirección escénica en España

Laburpena

José Luis Alonso is arguably the most important, metteur en scène Spain has produced in the second half of the twentieth century. This thesis examines the ways in which Alonso created a space of freedom through culture during the difficult years of the Franco era. It also considers how this space was created by means of his programming while artistic director of the Spanish National Theatre, the Teatro María Guerrero, in Madrid. His connections - beyond the borders of Spain with both European and American theatre makers - allowed Alonso to interact with practitioners and theorists who considered theatre a way of engaging with the dilemmas and challenges of their times. He was able to effectively implement all what he learned outside of Spain through his work at the María Guerrero theatre (from 1960 to 1975). Alonso was instrumental in forging a sense of theatrical exchange that predates some of the European theatrical or ‘shuttle’ exchanges that came in his wake. He was also able to promote international exchange with international tours undertaken with the company at the María Guerrero. Alonso’s support of and confidence in emerging Spanish practitioners, designers and playwrights such as José María Pou, Francisco Nieva and Antonio Gala will also be considered as will his impact on the contemporary Spanish theatre scene. The thesis also undertakes a consideration of his directorial poetics through the study and analysis of some of his paramount productions, including The Cherry Orchard (1960), Misericordia (1972) and The Puppet Play of Don Cristóbal (1986). This will serve, in part to demonstrate the importance of his legacy within the contemporary Spanish theatre. It will also ‘recover’ and ‘reinstitute’ Alonso in ways that show how he was erased from the cultural scene in the aftermath of his death and what the implications of such an approach might be for a ‘reading’ of his work.