Monday, November 07, 2005
Liberal Arts colloquia will address the evolution of Spanish theatre
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David Hitchcock, assistant professor of Spanish, will present “The Contemporary Spanish Theatre as a Mirror of Contemporary Europe” as part of the College of Liberal Arts Faculty Colloquium Series at 3:30 p.m. Friday, November 18, in Kleymeyer Hall in the Liberal Arts Center. He will discuss the dramatic evolution of Spanish theatre since the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975. “Under Franco, Spain was a closed society,” Hitchcock said. “The death of a dictator and the democratization of a nation removed barriers that separated Spain from Europe culturally and economically. “I’m going to talk about how that evolution has made Spain more Europeanized in terms of the kind of concerns that can be presented in art. Concerns such as drug abuse, immigration, sexuality, gender roles, and class are more freely presented. All of those would have been taboo themes during the Spain of 30 years ago.” Hitchcock wrote his dissertation on contemporary Spanish playwright Francisco Nieva, who began his career during the Franco era and is one of the leading figures in this period of transition. “I just enjoy the whole medium, and so the Spanish theatre has always been exciting to me, going back to the golden age of Cervantes to Garcia Lorca in the 20th century. It’s a very direct way of expressing reality,” Hitchcock said. “In so many ways, Spain’s theater has stopped being stereotypically Spanish. The Spain of bullfighters and flamenco is not the Spain you see presented on its stages today.” The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, click here. |
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