Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 November 2021
The capital discovery in the career of Alfonso Sastre was the fact that the theatre is a social act, and one which may have far-reaching consequences. The recognition of his role as a kind of social leaven places a heavy responsibility upon the dramatist, for he is capable of directing the thoughts and feelings of large sections of a population. Sastre, facing up squarely to this responsibility in a country where it is not always easy to do so, is producing what he calls a Theatre of Social Agitation whose fundamental theme is Revolution. It is not surprising to find that his plays have enjoyed few performances in Spain, where, however, Sastre is recognized as one of the outstanding young playwrights of today, and more than an author of promise. Of the ten full-length plays written before 1959, only five have been presented in Spain.
1 “Espacio-Tiempo y Drama,” Primer Acto, no. 6 (Jan.-Feb., 1958), 13.
2 My comments regarding this last play must necessarily be restricted, since Senor Sastre did not have a copy of it available, and I have read only the last scene, which appeared in Primer Acto, no. 6. Tierra Roja, Prologo pate'tico and El pan de todos are unpublished, and I have had access to them in manuscript form.
3 “El Teatro de Alfonso Sastre visto por Alfonso Sastre,” Primer Acto, no. 5 (Nov.-Dec, 1957), 7.
4 A. Sastre, Escuadra hacia la muerte, Madrid, Ediciones Alfil, 1959, pp. 28-29.
5 “El Teatro de Alfonso Sastre visto por Alfonso Sastre,” op. cit., 7.
6 Ibid.
7 Drama y sociedad, Madrid, Taurus Ediciones, 1956, p. 124.