Chapter 10. “Unveiling” Romeo and Juliet in Spain

What is it about?

This paper surveys the reception of Romeo and Juliet in Franco’s Spain by showing the evolution of the tragedy on the Spanish stages. Thanks to the censorship material kept at the Archivo General de la Administración, I have carried out an analysis of different productions that reveals that Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is not a stable entity but a web of translations, adaptations and appropriations reflecting the political, social and cultural forces at work at the time. Besides, this work brings to light how the performance of the play evolved from a poetic and chaste love story during the first years of the dictatorship to a more sexual and tasteless comedy framed in the context of the destape (unveiling) period, thus entering the realm of lowbrow culture and becoming a Shakespop product.

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