One Hundred Years of Silence José Echegaray in Hungary

Abstract

Based on my research carried out between 2018−2021, supported by a grant from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, I was able to provide a comprehensive overview of the reception of Spanish theatre in Hungary from the late 18th century to the present day, and to register 43 playwrights whose plays have been staged at least once in Hungary. From this list, only four authors have had ten or more premieres: García Lorca, Calderón de la Barca, Lope de Vega and Echegaray occupying the top positions. I would say that the result confirmed my preconceptions. I had expected Lorca and Calderón to be successful, I had also predicted Lope de Vega to be relatively popular, but I was surprised to see José Echegaray in such a prominent position. The latter author's dramas were staged between 1890 and 1924, but have since disappeared from our theatres' repertoires. In other words, we are witnessing a century of silence for Echegaray's theatre in Hungary, when his plays have not been performed for almost a hundred years. The aim of this article is to present and analyse the possible reasons for the success, failure and disappearance of José Echegaray from our stages, based on theatre reviews in the Hungarian press.