Performing (Gender) in 1930s Spain: La Barraca, University Theatre and Women’s History

In the early twentieth century, the steady increase of women entering higher education led to mixed gender university theatre groups. The lack of extant archival documentation complicates the task of reconstructing such experiences in many contexts and cultures. A notable exception to this widespread situation is La Barraca, a state-funded university theatre group created during the short-lived Spanish Second Republic (1931–6). The intimate relations between one of Europe’s first mixed gender university groups with national politics and education policies left behind a rich assortment of primary materials, including but not limited to journalistic coverage, memoirs, interviews, photos and film recordings. This article provides socio-political context for La Barraca before going on to critically interrogate what I will maintain was its most important legacy, the active participation of female students. In the process, I offer new insights into the gender dynamics within and beyond the university in the politically charged build up to the Spanish Civil War.