The «People's Theatre» —which is characterized by its non profes-sional
and distant economical approach to theatre, and by its manner of
carrying the intelligence of the elite to the towns people— plays the
main part in this work. After discussing the educational function of
the thea-tre, with special reference to the Spanish Second Republic,
two types of theatre are studied: Pedagogical Missions Theatre and the
University Theatre of «La Barraca» and «El Búho», members of the
University Schooling Federation (F.U.E.) of Madrid and of Valencia
respecti-vely. In one or more occurrences the final products from these
theatre groups does not only consist of funnelling entertainment and
culture to a new audience, but also contemplates social and political
awareness. The latter is done in a more explicit manner with the
University Theatre.
The towns people feel called towards protagonism and participation in
this social and political awareness. The Missions theatre is not a work
of charity, nor is the University Theatre an experience without
pretensions carried out by boisterous and carefree students. Due to
fun-dings by the establishment both theatres demonstrate clear ideas on
ideology and culture, which is obviously more apparent during the
Spanish Civil War. When contemplating methods on social and personal
emancipation, their works of drama convert, in a certain way, into «a
guide to liberty». Juan Manuel Fernández Soria
Key words: Popular Education, University Theatre, Pedagogical Missions,
University Schooling Federation, Spanish Second Republic.
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Nº 206, enero-abril 1997 
