Between the Silence of Submission and the Challenges of Authenticity: Theatrical Censorship in Franco’s Spain (1939–75)

In 1964, Antonio Buero Vallejo (1916-2000), who had spent six years in prison for his demonstrated authenticity in defending Spain’s democratically instituted Republic, described to me – then a young professor of contemporary Spanish theatre – the government censorship he had to contend with to have his plays performed. I was spellbound and determined to learn more about Spain’s censorship system, beginning with the source: the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.