Catalan Theater Without Catalan? Plays and Performances: 1939-1945

Although many histories outline the complete suppression of the Catalan language during the early years of Francoism, analysis of theater reveals a more complex picture, even before the ban on performance in Catalan was lifted in Barcelona in 1946. While most Catalan productions in exile were far from oppositional, some amateur and religious performances in Catalan continued in Spain during the years immediately after the Civil War. There is even evidence of attempts to make Catalan a language of Francoist ideology. Two texts from the Valencia region are fascinating examples of the sort of secular plays permitted in 1939: one in print (Eduard Mallent Albert's Mals consellers són els cels) and the other in performance (Manuel Soto Lluch's !Tots els pillos tenen sort!).