“Theater in Argentina and Uruguay, which together comprise the Río de la Plata region of Latin America, has been the predominant form of entertainment since the nineteenth century,” William Garrett Acree Jr. declares on page 2 of his engaging volume Staging Frontiers: The Making of Modern Popular Culture in Argentina and Uruguay. He then proceeds to chronicle popular theater in this region during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, tracing theater’s transformation from makeshift tents to grand stages.
At the heart of his study are the portrayals of dramatic representations offered by traveling Creole circus troupes who, in their movements around the coastline of the Río de la Plata, “staged frontiers” outside the formal space of urban theaters. Echoed in the book’s title, this notion refers to the practice of effectively putting the countryside onstage, and representing the transformations that the region’s export boom and economic modernization were exacting on traditional ways of life and on broader understandings of community.
Often pitting idealized heroic frontier figures of gauchos (who were distinctly antimodern) against the increasingly powerful and seemingly heartless state, these performances also spoke of the expansion of the frontier, the displacements and trials rural inhabitants faced, and the tensions that developed between immigrants and locals in urban and rural contexts. As Acree skillfully demonstrates, dramatizations under the Creole circus tent provided entertainment but also constituted instances of public debate over national identity, modernity, and urbanization.
These straightforward, melodramatic performances led to staggering commercial success and cultural longevity with transformative consequences that included the formation of an enduring theatergoing public and a proliferation of both new places and opportunities for social interaction. As a result of these popular spectacles, frontiers of class, nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, and age difference came together, interacting in previously unimaginable ways, with far-reaching repercussions.
“Yet, how was all this possible?” Acree asks. “How could a bunch of ragtag circus families, many of immigrant descent, and other itinerant performers create what would become one of the most widely attended forms of entertainment for close to two decades, where ranch hands rubbed shoulders with presidents, and whose impacts would long outlive the ephemeral experience of the show?” Acree’s book tells that story.
Framed by an introduction and a conclusion, Staging Frontiers is structured in three parts that address the following timeframes: “A Cultural History of Popular Entertainment (1780s-1880s)”; “Equestrian Showmen Onstage and Off (1860s-1910s)”; and “Consolidating the Popular Culture Marketplace (1890s-2010s).”
The first part opens with a portrayal of everyday life and popular culture in Buenos Aires and Montevideo. It details religious and royal festivities, the candombes of Afrodescendants, and popular equestrian events. It then looks at “hemispheric travelers” to the region, underscoring their important role in popularizing theater in the Río de la Plata area. Notable among these visitors was the French actress Sarah Bernhardt who, fascinated by the gaucho drama Juan Moreira, played the title character in a series of performances. Among other travelers to the region were Louis Moreau Gottschalk, and circus families, like the Carlo brothers, who spent decades working the Argentine and Uruguayan performance circuit.
The second part centers on the rise and sway of the Creole drama phenomenon that revolutionized the theatergoing experience. Creole or criollo, in the Plata region, was originally “a colonial term denominating Spaniards born in the Americas and their privileged social status,” Acree explains; but by the second half of the 1800s it had “come to designate what and who was ‘authentically’ Argentine or Uruguayan and clearly not European” (4).
Following in the tradition of gauchesque literature, many of the staged tales of country life included representation of gauchos—both knife-wielding toughs, and “noble” ones—that connected audiences with the frontier. Central to the development of the Creole drama phenomenon, as Acree outlines, was the role of the famed Podestá family circus. The rough edges of these enactments at times spilled beyond the stage, prompting violent outbursts and knife fights beyond performance venues. The passion of Creole dramas, however, also promoted a Creole spirit in popular culture that engaged spectators in the process of “going Creole.” These dramatic performances further effected a consolidation of regional identity synonymous with national belonging and a sense of patriotism clearly evidenced, for example, in the rise of criollo membership clubs devoted to “playing gaucho,” and in civic associations dedicated to “Creole” culture.
The last section describes the decline of Creole dramas, partly brought about by social critics who questioned the plays’ artistic and moral values, but also by the surge of other theatrical forms, like the zarzuela. The rise of popular activities, such as soccer, tango, and immigrant entertainments, further added to their decline. Yet, while their popularity receded, Creole dramas continued to attract fans through reinterpretations of Juan Moreira in film, newsreels, and radio, well into the twentieth century.
Staging Frontiers is a fascinating portrayal of the formation of modern popular culture in the Río de la Plata and a valuable contribution to the social history of popular culture of this region and the Americas. While Acree’s approach is more historiographical than folkloristic, folklorists (as well as scholars from numerous disciplines) will find this book rich in ideas pertaining to the social and cultural dynamics and the transformative power of popular performances.
Especially compelling is the impressive archival material unearthed by the author, despite the ephemeral nature of theater performances that leave no trace. The wide range of sources consulted – including travel accounts, records of ticket sales, photographic collections of performers and performances, advertisements, commentary in the popular press, statistical data, correspondence among actors, authors, and impresarios—complement Acree’s on-the-ground visits to social clubs, the hours of listening to scratchy musical recordings, and his “interviews with aficionados of theater history or private collectors of all things gaucho” (xii).
Written in an accessible narrative style, this winner of the 2020 Best Book in the Nineteenth Century Award from the LASA Nineteenth Century Section, offers undergraduates as well as graduate students and specialists a delightful and edifying read.
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[Review length: 996 words • Review posted on December 2, 2022]