L’Associació de Teatre Selecte / Català (1929-1939): An amateur starting-point for the renovation of Catalan drama

Abstract

The Associació de Teatre Selecte (Select Drama Society), created in 1929 and renamed the Associació de Teatre Català in 1936, was an amateur group intent on revitalizing the Catalan stage and rendering it more dynamic, all this at a time when professional drama was in deep crisis. By programming performances from both amateur and professional troupes, it struggled to engage public from a wide remit, modernize the type of plays that were being billed, and offer an alternative outlet for playwrights to put on their works for the first time. In 1932, it was also responsible for constituting the Federació Catalana de Societats de Teatre Amateur, an association that brought together amateur enthusiasts in Catalonia, who revised repertories and general procedure. This article analyses the assumptions and development of the society, its protagonists, its spokespersons and the many activities it undertook between 1929 and 1939 as a launching pad for renewal of the contemporary stage and public dissemination of Catalan dramatic art.