Finished from the start and other plays / Juan Radrigán ; translated from the Spanish by Ana Elena Puga with Mónica Núñez-Parra.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Radrigán, Juan, 1937-

Contributor:

Puga, Ana Elena.

Núñez-Parra, Mónica.

Standardized Title:

Plays. Selections. English

Language:

English

Spanish

Subjects (All):

Radrigán, Juan, 1937---Translations into English.

Radrigán, Juan.

Radrigán, Juan, 1937-.

Genre:

Drama.

Physical Description:

lxix, 193 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Evanston, Ill. : Northwestern University Press, 2007.

Summary:

One of Chile's finest voices of the voiceless, Juan Radrigan wrote plays during Pinochet's dictatorship that, in the face of torture, exile, and political disappearances, stood as powerful testaments to the country's loss of democracy. The first work in this collection, Testimony to the Deaths of Sabina, features an older married couple who make their living as fruit sellers, but after Sabina is issued a citation for an unspecified infraction, she worries that they might lose their livelihood. The Beasts tells the story of three sisters living in the wilderness who, fearing they have been completely abandoned, devise a means of ultimate escape. The trilogy Funeral Drums for Lambs and Wolves includes Isabel Banished in Isabel, the monologue of a woman left to go mad alone; Without Apparent Motive, the monologue of a murderer lamenting the spread of violence; and The Guest, or Tranquility is Priceless, a confrontational dialogue that speaks directly to the spectators, implicating them for their silent, passive tolerance of Pinochet. The title play, Radrigan's 1981 masterpiece, speaks directly to the specter of the disappeared. These plays provide a medium through which readers may bear witness to the trauma inflicted by dictatorship-Radrigan's works make it impossible to turn away.

Contents:

Introduction : the missing witness

Testimonies to the deaths of Sabina

The beasts

Funeral drums for lambs and wolves

Isabel banished in Isabel

Without apparent motive

The guest, or, Tranquility is priceless

Finished from the start.

Notes:

"The Spanish versions of these plays were originally published in Teatro de Juan Radrigán : 11 obras, by Juan Radrigán in 1984 by CENECA-University of Minnesota, Santiago, Chile."--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [189]-193).

ISBN:

9780810123427

0810123428

OCLC:

154308929