By Juliana Santiago-Batista ’27

Contributor Biography: Juliana Santiago Batista is a Theatre major and Creative Writing minor from Carolina, PR. She believes people should learn more about Latin American theatre and their impact towards their countries. Juliana enjoys reading plays that feature powerful women, writing horror, and playing videogames with friends. She hopes to pursue a career in Acting or Stage Management once she graduates from Washington College.

Brief Description: The culmination of the research portion of Drama Stage and Society II consisted in writing about something the student felt passionate about regarding contemporary theatre. This essay examines the work of playwright Griselda Gambaro, its influence on Argentinian theatre, and Argentina’s sociopolitical situation at the time of their publishing.

The following was written for THE 203: Drama, Stage, and Society II

For centuries, political and social movements have influenced how theater is written and performed. This is because theater is a representation of life and helps audiences internalize and recognize themes happening in their lives. Theater is a place where one creates art for the betterment and comprehension of society. In Latin American theater, this is most prevalent because many plays are driven by social and political criticism, allowing for audiences to understand that they have the power to create change. 

In September 1955, Argentina was going through a series of faulty military regimes, a pattern started by the Revolución Libertadora led by General Eduardo Lonardi and Admiral Isaac Rojas (Navarro). When their group rose to power, the military government wanted to rid Argentina from Peronism, a practice established by Juan Perón. In their efforts to erase the memory of Juan Perón, they erased his name from monuments and any other type of physically engraved/written document. His supporters were killed, imprisoned, or tortured. 

The military regime continued until 1962 when José María Guido was appointed as the provisional president of Argentina. His one-year presidency was affected by the different military factions’ power struggle and the labor economic struggle. After José María Guido’s presidency, the next Argentinian president, Arturo Illia, implemented different, important reforms in areas such as education, health, and housing, with the aim of improving the living conditions of the population. This, however, only lasted three years since he was deposed from his position by a military junta striving to achieve the goal of La Revolución Argentina (Navarro). Throughout this time period, Argentina went through an innumerable amount of censorship. The government, led by General Juan Carlos Onganía, banned all political parties, closed satire magazines, and claimed that a couple of plays were immoral, therefore leading to them being banned. During this time of censorship and political uncertainty, many political plays came to be written. As said by dramatist Griselda Gámbaro, “One lives in a politique and in a politicized society, so necessarily this will be reflected in the work of art…” (Larson 3).  

Griselda Gambaro is one of the most prominent Argentinian dramatists from the 20th century. Her passion against the Argentinian dictatorship led her work to be a wakeup call to her general audience. Griselda Gambaro takes great inspiration from Theatre of the Absurd. Theater of the Absurd “treated human misery and suffering as grim farce and asked such troubling questions as whether language is a viable tool for authentic human intercourse” (Fiero 1). Gambaro plays with the idea of human misery, which truly alludes to the Argentinian reality that her work expresses. In her works she expresses situations that correspond to occurrences in Argentinians’ day to day life during the 20th century. Las Paredes or The Walls, as it is written in its English translation, is arguably her most influential play. The Walls, written in 1963, makes up a world that gives us an explanation on what could have happened to the people who had disappeared during Argentina’s military regime. Gambaro took major risks writing The Walls, this being because people weren’t supposed to talk about “the disappeared” at the time it was happening because it was a major taboo (Lacy).   

The play is made up of three characters that go through subtle but major changes throughout the progression of the story. None of the characters have names, which could mean that Gambaro wrote this play with the intention of the audience interpreting and reflecting who in their day-to-day lives mirrored the behavior of the characters. The Walls begins with a young man in a spacious, luxurious 1850s style room sitting next to a door, when he jolts wide awake at the sound of a gut-wrenching scream. This provokes the young man to wake up and the dialogue to begin. Throughout the whole play, the other two characters accompanying the young man—Usher and Functionary— fill his head with fallacies. The first being that the young man was not kidnapped but that he went willingly with the two men that brought him to the room he was currently staying in. The character of the Functionary also alludes that the young man can leave the room after a day passes, but he doesn’t have to. This in turn makes the young man believe that the two characters are good and trustworthy people, but he is still confused as to how he got there in the first place. As the story progresses, the characters of the Usher and the Functionary become crueler as if they were finally showing their true colors. Not only this, but the play calls for the set to get smaller in each scene, as said by Rosalea Postma: “The theatrical space—that is, the bound region in which the dramatic action occurs—is manipulated to project the feeling of separation and confinement through barriers and enclosures” (1). Representing isolation and loss of self, Gambaro is telling us to always have dissidence towards the government. 

The Walls was Gambaro’s first play, and in it she expressed her disdain and worries about the political systems that she had been experiencing since she was a child. In an interview with Argentinian Newspaper Caras y Caretas Gambaro expressed “Dissidence as a state of alert.” With power, one has to be a dissident. She continued: “Even when I felt I was receiving favors from those in power, I always had an eye toward what was missing in the system, because distrust is a more desirable position for an intellectual or a writer” (Gambaro). This concept from Gambaro is shown in all of her works, although it was the cause for her banishment from Argentina. This was not unprecedented since Gambaro had already made her reputation as a political dramatist, shown in her play Information for Foreigners. 

Información para extranjeros, or Information for Foreigners, as it is translated, was written in 1973 during a time of unrest for the Argentinian population. In 1973, Juan Perón returned to power; however, he died a year later, leaving his wife as head of the government. With this change in power, many of the most vulnerable communities went to the streets and exercised their right to protest in order to have better working conditions and wages. In these protests, unions were a key element, as they would organize the protests and negotiations with the government. Although important conversations and protests were being held, the Argentinian government wasn’t thrilled with them. Therefore, the “armed groups of the rights and lefts” were initiated because of the social and political crisis (La década del 70 en argentina: convulsión y conflictos). The armed groups would impose their ideologies through violence to whoever dared to oppose their ideologies.   

It is because of these ideologies and methods of enforcement that Griselda Gambaro wrote Information for Foreigners. The play was written with the purpose of showing the brutal treatment of Argentine citizens and the ignorance of the people to stop it. Mentioned on the Denison University theater page: “Gambaro’s ‘Information for Foreigners’ deals with the theme of random and meaningless punishment at the hands of an oppressive regime, and the unwillingness of its citizens to accept the truth or to intervene” (Denison University). In the play Gambaro accentuates this by making the spectator watch the scenes without being able to do anything.  

Information for foreigners begins with detailed instructions for the director regarding set needs and how the scenes should play out. An example regarding the specificity of the set is that the set should be a spacious residential building that is at least two stories tall (Gambaro 69). Griselda Gambaro gives the set a familial look, this way the audience can better understand that the events transpiring in the performance are many peoples’ reality. The play itself is made to make one uncomfortable, and it contains many disturbing scenes which are eye opening to those who have not had to experience violence or don’t know what has happened in the world during that time.  

The play consists of 20 scenes which are interchangeable in order at the discretion of the director, but the last scene is the same for every group since it ties together every single theme performed and gives the audience its final breath. The audience is divided into groups (the number depends on the size of the performance space) and then led by an actor, guiding the audience through several scenes. The guides in some scenes incite the scene that is being played in front of the audience, simulating what Gambaro’s and many Argentinians reality was. The guides also play into the ignorance of the people that do not talk about the violence against their own kind. In page 90 of Information for Foreigners this is apparent: “If you squeeze the trigger, it’s all over. The baths and… (He smiles.) I’m meddling in something that’s none of my business…” (Gambaro). This line and others from the play can make one wonder and reflect about their own experiences with ignorance, and it allows them to think about times when they were the guide. Actors also partake in the audience to simulate how, at that time, you couldn’t trust anyone.  

Griselda Gambaro took great risks writing her plays and novels. She was unable to keep quiet while people were suffering in front of her. The plays that have been previously mentioned adhere to her goal as a writer. Griselda Gambaro writes what she knows and sees in order to stop ignorance. This, however, is the reason she was exiled from Argentina in 1977.  

In 1976, a military junta took over the Argentine government, and thus Argentine’s last dictatorship began. Argentina’s new government was extremely strict; anyone who dared to disobey the government would be punished. People who didn’t agree with policies made for the nation would be suspected of being socialists. As articulated by Valeria Moreno Lopez, “Citizens suspected by the government of political opposition often went missing without a trace, never to be seen again” (Moreno Lopez). These residents were sent to concentrations camps, which the government had manufactured. The government kept them a secret, so people would think the camps were only a rumor. Not only this, but those who would speak against the government would be tortured, kidnaped, and even exiled. The war continued for seven years. 

Argentina’s Dirty War was no motive for Gambaro to stop writing. In 1976, Gambaro wrote the novel Ganarse la Muerte (Earning Death). The novel detailed the nature of present events, beginning with the following sentences about newborn babies: “How wonderful! And the question: would they be tortured or a torturer? They are born the same, they cry at the same time. Afterwards, the cry will be from another” (Paredes). With these simple sentences, we understand the tone of the time. It is then that Gambaro truly wrote a piece that made the government fear exposure of the truth behind their governance, since that same year the novel was banned from Argentina, Gambaro was exiled.    

Griselda Gambaro is Argentina’s most prominent playwright. Her plays and novels are filled with political criticism that allow her audience to reflect and understand the topics that are happening in their surroundings. We can even find some correlations between her plays and the status of the modern world. Gambaro’s plays serve as an exceptional example of how theater can be used to cultivate and cause change in our communities. 

Annotated Bibliography: 

“The ‘Disappeared’ Victims of the Dirty War in Argentina” World History Edu. World History Edu, 2024. https://worldhistoryedu.com/the-disappeared-victims-of-the-dirty-war-in-argentina/ 

Blakemore, Erin. “30,000 People Were ‘Disappeared’ in Argentina’s Dirty War. These Women Never Stopped Looking: For decades, the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo have demanded answers.” History.com. A & E Television Network, 2025 https://www.history.com/articles/mothers-plaza-de-mayo-disappeared-children-dirty-war-argentina Accessed April 22, 2025.  

Fiero, John. “Theater of the Absurd.” Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2022, 2p. 

Gambaro, Griselda. Information for Foreigners: Three Plays by Griselda Gambaro. Northwestern University Press, 1992.  

Gomes Diez, Candela. “Siempre cuestioné al poder.” Caras y Caretas. Grupo Octubre, 2019.  https://carasycaretas.org.ar/2019/04/01/siempre-cuestione-al-poder/ Accessed April 22, 2025. 

Harvell, Tony. Latin American Dramatists since 1945. Praeger, 2003.  

HistoriaUniversal.org. “Historia Argentina: Golpe Militar: Gobierno de Guido (1962-1963).” HistoriaUniversal.Org, 2 Jan. 2023, historiauniversal.org/historia-argentina-golpe-militar-gobierno-de-guido-1962-1963/ Accessed March 1, 2025 

“Information for Foreigners” Denison. Denison University, 2019. https://denison.edu/academics/theatre/wh/130190. Accessed April 20, 2025. 

Lacy, Rosalind. “Las Paredes. (The Walls).” DC Theater Scene.com. DC Theater Scene, 2007. https://dctheatrescene.com/2007/02/06/las-paredes-the-walls/ Accessed April 22, 2025. 

Lamberti, Luciano. “Griselda Gambaro: ‘La libertad no hace daño’.” Eterna Cadencia. Eterna Cadencia, 2019. https://eternacadencia.com.ar/nota/griselda-gambaro-quot-la-libertad-no-hace-dano-quot-/737 Accessed April 21, 2025. 

Larson, Catherine, and Vargas Margarita. Latin American Women Dramatists. Indiana University Press, 1998. 

Moreno Lopez, Valeria. “History of Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ Era” Simpson Street Free Press. Simpson Street Free Press, 2022. https://www.simpsonstreetfreepress.org/history/dirty-war-argentina Accessed April 22, 2025. 

Navarro, Marysa. “The Sixties in Argentina: Political Repression, Cultural Vibrancy.” Revista: Harvard Review of Latin America. Harvard University, 2009. https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/the-sixties-in-argentina-political-repression-cultural-vibrancy/. Accessed April 22, 2025. 

Paredes, Demian. “Ganarse la muerte», una novela de Griselda Gambaro censurada por la dictadura Argentina.” La izquierda Diario. Rebelión, 2016. https://rebelion.org/ganarse-la-muerte-una-novela-de-griselda-gambaro-censurada-por-la-dictadura-argentina/ Accessed April 23, 2025. 

Pigna, Felipe. “1964, hace 50 años.” El Historiador. El Historiador. https://elhistoriador.com.ar/1964-hace-50-anos/ 

Postma, Rosalea. “Space and Spectator in the Theatre of Griselda Gámbaro: Información para extranjeros.” Latin America Theater Review. University of Kansas Libraries, 1980.  admin,+latr.v14.n1.035-045 (1).pdf Accessed April 16, 2025 

“La Década Del 70 En Argentina: Convulsión y Conflictos.” En Pocas Palabras, 23 May 2018, www.enpocaspalabras.com.ar/historia/decada-del-70-en-argentina-resumen/.