Plays by Lorca

Feel free to add suggestions below. Blood Wedding Based on a true story, the play is set in 1930's rural Spain. A passionless marriage is about to take place; the anger of a mother who has buried most of her offspring and husband bubbles away; the Moon leads two lovers to their death. Watching (or reading) the scene between the Bride and the Maid in which the former expresses her sexuality, one can see how dangerous Lorca was who those who thought the oppression of women was necessary in society. (To read the Wikipedia entry, click here.)
The House of Bernarda Alba If you want your jaw to drop at the sheer rigidity of a mother, do read this play. A claustrophobic house is the setting for this play, where five sisters mourn the death of their father under the close watch of their ever-controlling mother. Written in prose, Lorca was proud that he had been able to write a realistic piece: "There's not a drop of poetry!" he was heard exclaiming. Of course, this is not true at all: the language is absolutely beautiful and as ever, difficult to get your tongue around, even if the dialogue is not in verse. That is of course, what elevates this tragedy to its classic status.   (To read the Wikipedia entry, click here.)
The Public In my opinion, the harshest of his plays. Tough language to digest, tough characters to play and a tough structure to tackle. I would even go as far as to suggest that the lyricism that makes "When Five Years Pass" so beautiful is replaced by an anger rarely seen in Lorca's plays. In Lorca's words, The Public "has not yet been produced and never will be, because, quite simply, it cannot be". Full of surrealism, the play holds a mirror to the audience, showing its prejudices and narrow-mindedness. This was the first time that Lorca introduced homosexuality in his work. (To read the brief Wikipedia entry, click here.)