20000310-"Television series are like substitutes for theater".

"Television series are like substitutes for theater. In fact, many of them are written by teams in which there are playwrights, thus fulfilling their desire to reach the general public". These were the words at the University of Navarra of Eduardo Pérez Rasilla, professor of the Royal technical school of Dramatic Art, who visited the campus on the occasion of the celebration of the cycle "Recent Spanish theater", organized by the department of Hispanic Literature of the School of Philosophy and Letters.

Pérez Rasilla, critic of magazines such as review or Adeteatro, commented that "currently, the figures say that more people do go to the theater. And the feeling is that the more conventional audience issue has grown, the one that goes to musicals, comedies.... Undoubtedly, the least successful are the texts of contemporary authors".

"Now -he continued- there is a parallel phenomenon: the alternative venues. They are attended by a younger audience subject , and the authors who perform in them are also young, disciples of the generations of authors of the Transition. It is normal to arrive at one of these theaters and find that there are no seats available. However, the interest in theater is gradual, because it takes place in a reduced, somewhat marginal environment. It attracts a young, different audience, but it is a minority, especially if we are talking about committed theater or living authors".

Theater that is published and not performed

Pérez Rasilla gave a talk at lecture on the "Panorama of current Spanish theater", in which he emphasized the authors influenced by the Spanish democratic transition and the previous regime: "All of them wrote in their maturity, forged by a university and stage training , since they were related to the theater. This has determined the conception of the scenic of people like Fermín Cabal or Ignacio del Moral, who have tried to search for quality and reach the majority".

"Today we can differentiate between authors and aspiring authors. Today much of the theater is published and not performed. In this sense, we must speak of aspiring authors: they are people who write, win prizes and publish texts that are difficult to take to the stage. A true author is someone who writes, premieres and, only after this process, publishes. An author is someone who premieres assiduously: Alonso de Santos, Fermín Cabal, Sanchis Sinisterra... are those who deserve to be called masters".

This professional of the dramatic world, who has said that "there have never been so many people writing theater as now and, nevertheless, it seems something for initiates", has also differentiated between the current works of previous authors such as Buero Vallejo: "They wrote very clear stories, with very defined characters. However, as opposed to the absolute certainty of their texts, now we are looking for a changing reality".