1st Edition

Federico García Lorca

By Simon Breden Copyright 2025
    210 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    210 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Lauded as one of the most important poets and playwrights of the 20th Century, Federico Garcia Lorca was also an accomplished theatre director with a clear process and philosophy of how drama should be staged. Directing both his own work and that of others, Lorca was also closely involved in the rehearsals for productions of many of his plays, and from his own writings and those of his collaborators, a determined agenda to stimulate audiences and renovate theatre can be seen.

    This is the first book in English to fully consider Lorca as a director and his rehearsal methodology. The book combines:

    -          A biographical account of Lorca’s work as a director and rehearsal leader, revealing his techniques and methods of approach texts;

    -          An exploration of his key writings on and around theatre, drawing on his talks, play introductions and some of the dramatic works themselves;

    -          The first translation into English of his fragment Dragon;

    -          A detailed discussion of Lorca’s key productions, Lope de Vega’s Fuente Ovejuna (1933) for La Barraca, and his own Yerma (1934).

    -          Specific focus on the practical applications that we can draw from Lorca’s methods, both from what survives of his own work and from the accounts of his close collaborators.

     

    As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today’s student.

    Contents

    List of figures

    Acknowledgements

    A note on translations

     

    1. Lorca’s life in the theatre      

    Formative experiences 

    La Barraca      

    Anfistora         

    Mainstream success     

     

    2. Key writings and ideas         

    A Talk About Theatre   

    The modern director    

    Lorca’s ideas on theatre

    Social commitment and theatre 

    Rhythm & harmony

    Imagination & inspiration        

    Multidisciplinarity       

    Prologues, Dragón       

    El público, Comedia sin título  

     

    3. Key productions      

    Fuente Ovejuna

    Lorca and the Spanish Golden Age       

    Rehearsing Fuente Ovejuna

    Casting

    Co-directing: Ugarte & Maortua de Ucelay       

    Rehearsals and actor training    

    Working on verse        

    Yerma 

    Co-directing: Rivas Cherif       

    Acting work    

     

    4. Practical Exercises: Lorca and Rivas Cherif   

    Observations of Lorca’s rehearsals       

    Casting

    The rehearsal period    

    Verse work     

    Breathing        

    Verse form      

    Punctuation and thought

    Annotating the text      

    Improvisation  

    Character work

    Conclusion      

     

    Bibliography

    Index

     

     

     

    Biography

    Simon Breden is currently Doctor Encargado at the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. His published work focuses on rehearsal practice, contemporary and Golden Age Spanish theatre, and issues of translating for the stage. He is also a published translator and former stage director.