Authors

Alma Prelec¹;  ¹ The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, UK

Discussion

This paper will examine theatrical representations of the Spanish Civil War in 1990s Yugoslavia. Through focus on a series of hit productions of José Sanchis Sinisterra’s play, ¡Ay, Carmela! (1987), I suggest these productions employed Spain as a prism for the ongoing conflict in the region. Set in Belchite during the Spanish Civil War, the play follows a pair of vaudeville actors who unwittingly end up in occupied territory and are there expected to perform. Throughout the 1990s, it was staged hundreds of times by travelling troupes across Croatia (Teatar Rugantino), Serbia (Kult Teatar), and Bosnia (SARTR, Sarajevski ratni teatar). Drawing from Michael Rothberg’s notion of multidirectional memory and Peter Glazer’s work on radical nostalgia, I will discuss how these productions engaged with the history of  ‘Naši španci’ [our Spaniards] -- Yugoslav veterans of the International Brigades. Despite the war’s outcome, the volunteers’ efforts fostered the creation of a new political identity in Yugoslavia, and, for many, the Brigade continues to be a reference point of pride in the region. However, their impact on theatrical production remains an understudied area, despite holding significant clues regarding the transnational transmission of memory.