The Role of Theatre in Spain Today

Schimmel/Conrades Science Center 163

The goal of this documentary was to get different perspectives of the current role of Hispanic Classical theatre in different areas of Spain. Last summer, during a Theory to Practice trip to Spain we interviewed theater professionals, and yearly theatre festival workers - and we were fascinated by all that each of them had to say. Through these interviews and a lot of research, we were intrigued how the town of Almagro, Spain has celebrated theatre and classical Spanish theatre in particular, and in turn have had nothing but positive results for nearly the past forty years. With big cities like the capital of Madrid, and smaller towns like Toledo slowly minimizing the theatre production and attention, Almagro continues to do the opposite. Since the recent economic crisis, the arts and in particular the theater community throughout the country, seems to have been hit really hard. This documentary, therefore, examines the effects of theatre in Almagro in comparison to how theatre is approached throughout the rest of Spain. It also takes into consideration what others towns and countries can learn from the quaint town of Almagro in how they promote classic theatre as opposed to merely dismissing it as a thing of the past.