García Lorca Federico - 1993;1989;

FEDERICO GARCA LORCA

Blood Wedding
Doa Rosita the Spinster
translated by Gwynne EdwardsYerma translated by Peter LukeIntroduced by Gwynne EdwardsFederico Garca Lorca
Plays: OneBlood Wedding,
Doa Rosita the Spinster, YermaSpains most celebrated dramatist, an outstanding theatre director and a significant poet and artist, Federico Garca Lorcia was murdered by Nationalist partisans in 1936 at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The three tragedies included here were all written at the height of his powers and display his innovative mix of Spanish popular tradition and modern dramatic technique. Set in his home territory, Granada, the plays return again and again to the lives of passionate individuals, particularly women, trapped by the social conventions of narrow peasant communities. Blood Wedding(1933) signalled Lorcas growing fame at home and abroad. Based on the true story of an Andalusian couple escaping a prearranged marriage, it is Lorcas most famous and poetic play. Yerma(1934) is a more austere piece illustrating the savage claustrophobia of a small village.

This translation by Peter Luke was first staged at the National Theatre, London. Doa Rosita the Spinster (1935) centres on one of Lorcas favourite images, the stages of a rose in bloom, a metaphor for lifes passing. Federico Garca Lorca was born in 1898, near Granada, the son of a wealthy farmer. He studied in the Faculties of Arts and Law at the provincial university before moving to the Residence for Students, a prestigious college in Madrid, during a period of intellectual and artistic ferment. He travelled in the USA and South America in 1929 and 1930, and in 1931 was made director of the touring theatre company La Barraca by the Republican government in Spain. He was murdered by Nationalist partisans in 1936.

Because of his habit of reading his work aloud to friends, many plays and collections of poetry were published long after they were written. He published several books of poetry: Book of Poems (1921), Songs (1927), Gypsy Ballads (1928), Poem of Deep Song (1931) and First Songs (1936). His stage plays include: The Butterflys Evil Spell (1920), Mariana Pineda (1927), The Shoemakers Wonderful Wife (1930), Blood Wedding (1933), The Love of Don Perlimpln (1933), Yerma (1934), When Five Years Pass (rehearsed reading, 1936) and The House of Bernarda Alba (private reading, 1936).

1898	Born on 5 June in Fuentevaqueros, near Granada, the eldest of the four children of Don Federico Garca Rodrguez, a prosperous farmer, and Doa Vicenta Lorca Romero. An illness at two months prevents him from attending school until he is four.
1902/3	The family moves to Valderrubio, near Fuentevaqueros.
1902/3	The family moves to Valderrubio, near Fuentevaqueros. Lorca goes to school.
1909	The family moves to Granada. Lorca attends the College of the Sacred Heart.
1914	Begins his studies at the University of Granada in the Faculties of Arts and Law, without enthusiasm.
1915	Studies piano and guitar, attends the Conservatory and gives some private recitals. Friendship with Fernando de los Ros, Professor of Political Law at the University. Begins to attend literary gatherings at the Caf Alameda in Granada.
1917	In spring and summer educational visits, organized by Martn Domnguez Berrueta, Professor of Art Theory at the University, to different cities and regions of Andalusia and Castile. A meeting in Granada with Manuel de Falla further stimulates Lorcas love of music.
1918	Lorca publishes his first book, Impressions and Landscapes, based on the trips of the previous year.
1919	Lorca leaves Granada for Madrid and commences a ten-year stay at the Residence for Students. Amongst his close friends are Luis Buuel and Salvador Dal, champions of the avant-garde. Lorca strives to conceal his homosexuality. Writes his first play, The Butterflys Evil Spell.
1920	The Butterflys Evil Spell staged at the Teatro Eslava in Madrid, 22 March. Closes after four performances.
1921	Publication of Lorcas first volume of poetry, Book of Poems.
1922	Gives a lecture on deep song at the Granada Conservatory. With Manuel de Falla, Lorca organizes the Festival of Deep Song, which is held in Granada on 13 and 14 June.
1923	Presents with Manuel de Falla a childrens play festival celebrated at the Lorca household in Granada and including his own puppet play, The Girl Who Waters the Basil Plant.
1924	Friendship with the poet, Rafael Alberti. Works on poems to be published subsequently in Songs and Gypsy Ballads, and on his play, Mariana Pineda.
1925	Visits the home of Salvador Dal at Cadaqus, north-east Spain. Friendship with Dals sister, Ana Mara. Reads Mariana Pineda at the Dal home.
1926	Lectures in Granada: The Poetic Image in Don Luis de Gngora. Writes the first version of The Shoemakers Wonderful Wife.
1927	Edits the first number of the literary magazine, Cockerel. Publishes Songs, his second volume of poetry. Premire of Mariana Pineda, to considerable acclaim, on 24 June at the Teatro Goya in Barcelona. Mariana Pineda opens in Madrid on 12 October at the Teatro Fontalba.
1928	Publication of Gypsy Ballads, to become Lorcas best-known volume of poetry.
1928	Publication of Gypsy Ballads, to become Lorcas best-known volume of poetry. Lectures in Granada: Imagination, Inspiration and Evasion in Poetry; and Sketch of Modern Painting, with illustrations of pictures by Dal and Mir. Lectures at the Residence for Students: Lullabies. Completes The Love of Don Perlimpln. He is increasingly depressed. Involvement in an affair with a sculptor, Emilio Aladrn.
1929	End of the affair with Aladrn. June marks the beginning of a nine-month visit to the United States. Enrols as a student of English language at Columbia University. Spends August at Eden Mills in Vermont and September at Newburgh, before returning to New York.
1930	Works on The Shoemakers Wonderful Wife and the poems that would form the volume Poet in New York, published in 1940. Arrives in Cuba in the spring, works on The Public and When Five Years Pass. Returns to Spain in the autumn. Premire of The Shoemakers Wonderful Wife at the Teatro Espaol in Madrid on 24 December.
1933	Premire of Blood Wedding, directed by Lorca, at the Teatro Beatriz in Madrid, 8 March.
1933	Premire of Blood Wedding, directed by Lorca, at the Teatro Beatriz in Madrid, 8 March. A huge success. Premire, 5 April, at the Teatro Espaol, of The Love of Don Perlimpln. Collaborates in May with Manuel de Falla on a production at the Residence for Students of Love the Magician. Works on Yerma and directs La Barraca. Travels to Argentina in September and directs Mariana Pineda, Blood Wedding and The Shoemakers Wonderful Wife

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