Argentina
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Argentina is endowed with a theater industry that can be compared to that of very few countries in the world. As a matter of fact, more than 2.000.000 attended the Argentine theater in 2007. Furthermore, over 200 plays may be shown on Saturdays regularly, that is to say 10 shows per one hour-time.

The General San Martín and Cervantes theaters are regarded as the major official theatersin Buenos Aires and the great shopping district theaters lie on the mystic Corrientes avenue. For many, the off- theater is deemed to be the most precious type of theater style, both as regards the creativity that it displays, and he number of theaters showing its plays. After the 2001 meltdown, there suddenly appeared the genuine alternative theater shows. By then, actors, directors, and dramaturgists began to set up their own theaters, which were smaller than the traditional ones and generally had a capacity to host between 50 and 100 audience members.The granting of state subsidies by the National Institute of Theater and Proteatro over the last years has caused the already prominent theater industry to grow. The off- theater plays have largely been written by national authors appearing on a list that comprises classical artists, 60´s generation texts writers and new figures.

It was right back in the 60s amidst a process of shifting styles and culture contents that independent theaters began to take hold. The realism expressed by Roberto Cossa or Germán Rozenmacher– who focused on the middle-class puzzlement in light of Peronism –vied with the Di Tella Institute “Absurd” theater movement so as to gain public acceptance. In 1966 Buenos Aires witnessed the appearance of the café-concert. This new theater style involved a peculiar way of acting by showing sketches that gathered elements of humor and parody together with music, singing and lighting effects. María Elena Walsh and the Les Luthiers groups were some of the artists successfully providing momentum to this new theater genre.

The Argentine theater reached its golden age between 1910 and 1930. The sainete, a sort of farse starred by charicaturesque characters served as a critique of the ancient oligarchy. On the other hand, the grotesque theatre was created by Armando Discépolo, who is currently regarded as one of the major writers of that time period.

In 1981 towards the end of the last dictatorship, there arose the Open Theater, a kind of theater movement getting theaters packed to capacity and staging issues having a bearing on the history of the community, which had been subjected to the cultural repression imposed by the military dictatorship since 1976. Twenty years later theater players would begin a new theater movement known as “Teatro por la Identidad” in order to aid in the struggle headed by Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo.

At present, thanks to the momentum arising from Buenos Aires International Theater Festival, which has attracted almost 25.000 spectators in its last edition, the national theatre is regarded as stronger than ever before. Dramaturgists like Copi have been revered once again, and there have appeared others such as Alejandro Urdapilleta, Daniel Veronese, Rafael Spregelburd, Ricardo Bartís, Javier Daulte and Mauricio Kartún. Similarly, young authors like Romina Paula, who has directed the play Algo de ruido hace and Matías Feldman, director of the play Breve relato dominical secure the prospect of a promising future for the Argentine theater.

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