Villegas, Oscar (1943–)

Oscar Villegas (b. 18 March 1943), Mexican playwright. Villegas, a native of Ciudad del Maíz and a graduate of the directing program of the National Institute of Fine Arts, is generally considered to be the most talented playwright of his generation. His inveterate experimentation produces plays rich in interesting techniques, including one, El señor y la señora (1969), in which the speeches are not identified by character. His themes are contemporary and sometimes shocking: youth, love, sex, myths, values, and traditions, presented most often in one-act plays. Villegas's two major plays are Atlántida (1976), which takes place in a declining society without values, and Mucho gusto en conocerlo (1985), which also paints the hypocrisy and perversions that assault human sensibilities. Difficult economic and theatrical conditions in Mexico have hindered productions of Villegas's works; by occupation he is a ceramicist.

See alsoTheater .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

George Woodyard, "El teatro de Oscar Villegas: Experimentación con la forma," in Texto Crítico 4, no. 10 (May-August 1978): 32-41.

Ronald D. Burgess, "The Early Years: Villegas and López," in The New Dramatists of Mexico (1967–1985) (1991), pp. 14-29.

Additional Bibliography

Adler, Heidrun. Un viaje sin fin: teatro mexicano hoy. Madrid: Iberoamericana, 2004.

Burgess, Ronald D. The New Dramatists of Mexico, 1967–1985. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1991.

Leñero Franco, Estela. Voces de teatro en México a fin de milenio. Mexico City: Conaculta, 2004.

Schmidhuber de la Mora, Guillermo. El advenimiento del teatro mexicano: Años de esperanza y curiosidad. San Luis Potosí, Mexico: Arriaga, 1999.

                                    George Woodyard