The Spectacular in the Theater of Agustín Cuzzani (Argentina)

There are two periods to be considered in the production of the Argentine playwright Agustín Cuzzani. The first includes a cycle of four farsátiras written from 1953 to 1958 and compiled in his volume of Teatro in 1960.¹ These farces, all successfully produced—Una libra de carne (1954), El centroforward murió al amanecer (1955), Los indios estaban cabreros (1958), and Sempronio (1960)—are destined for heterogeneous audiences. They especially cater to popular taste in that each one establishes what the author calls a situación-espectáculo—a “theatrical-fantastic” kind of conflict carried to irrational extremes. In each case the result is a