The Emancipatory Praxis of Women in Galician Emigration and Exile Theatre in Buenos Aires during the Mid-Decades of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

Galician theatrical activity in Buenos Aires has traditionally been approached from a text-centric and androcentric perspective, with a strong emphasis on canonical plays such as Os vellos non deben de namorarse and A soldadeira. With the exception of studies by Laura Tato and an issue of Cadernos da Escola Dramática Galega devoted to the Compañía Gallega de Comedias Marujita Villanueva, the dramatic work of Galician women in Buenos Aires has been mostly consigned to the margins or directly overlooked. Only the actresses in Castelao’s Os vellos non deben de namorarse receive even a passing mention. The aim of this article is to highlight the important role of female figures such as Maruxa Boga, Maruxa Villanueva and Mariví Villaverde in Galician dramatic activity in Buenos Aires in the mid-decades of the twentieth century, and to examine the emancipatory activities of some of these women outside the patriarchal confines of their time.