ABSTRACT
San José, a city of about a million inhabitants, with about 20 theatrical spaces.
Our theatre can be seen to reflect the different polarizing tendencies that arose
from the transformation of the country’s cultural and political institutions during
the 80s. In the 70s, important developments had included the foundation of
the National Theatre Company, two College Theatre Schools and the National
Theatre Workshop (an introductory acting institute), along with the appearance
of independent groups and the immigration of actors and directors from
South America. For the Costa Rican theatre, it appeared to be the beginning
of a long-awaited move towards professionalism. The second half of the 80s
was a period in which a more individualistic and commercial model began to
prevail, finally taking over in the 90s. Nevertheless, a few groups and individuals
kept investigating new ideas with broader perspectives in the artistic, technical
and ideological sense. They kept up the search for different stage languages
with higher artistic demands.
