la balada de a. aquino y los ensayos sobre el teatro salvadoreno

The Ballad of Anastasio Aquino and Escenarios de dos mundos

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The Ballad of Anastasio Aquino and

Essays on El Salvadorian Theatre

Translated from the Spanish by Bojan Bilid

La balada de Anastasio Aquino y

los ensayos sobre el teatro salvadoreño

Traducidos del español al inglés por Bojan Bilid


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Dear Doctor López,

Our mutual friend Edmundo Barbero briefly informed me a couple of months ago about your

intense intellectual engagement in El Salvador as well as about one of your plays. You were so

kind to send me a copy of the magazine that you so meticulously edit as well as your Ballad of

Anastasio Aquino for which I am very grateful.

Given that I spent a couple of months away from the university, I could not have access to my

mail up until a couple of days ago. That is the reason for the delay in writing.

I took the liberty of sending a copy of your work to my good friend George Woodyard of the

University of Kansas who is editing the magazine called Latin American Theater Review. Up to

now, this magazine has not published (theater) plays and I am not sure whether they will do so

in the near future. But they have a marvelous archive which tends to be used by many people

looking for material on Latin American theater. What is more, I will forward your play to the

journal of our Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies called Mester because they have

already published plays and I hope they will do the same with yours. I will keep you posted.

I am honoured by your interest in my opinion on your play. I can tell you that what I have

already done and what I will still do is an indication of my appreciation of your work. It appears

to me that it is a work of high poetical value and at the same time a courageous political

statement. I believe that you have very skilfully evaded all the obstacles inherent in every

political recreation of historical material. From the Historical Account which appears at the end

of your play, it is clear that you stayed loyal to history while at the same time producing a play

which is an absolutely poetical creation. It seems to me that your work could make us think that

the fall of the character Anastasio is related to two “tragic faults”: his fondness of women and

his pride (“I declare myself the commander-in-chief...”; the dangerous scene of the self-

coronation whose ambiguity is disturbing). In my eyes, if I may, the first “fault” would suffice,

particularly given that it fits “functionally” with the treason (betrayal) and the fall. This would, it

is true, blemish the historical veracity a bit. For the rest, as I have already said, the work seems

to me very well done.


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I wrote to Mr Edmundo Barbero a couple of days ago. I am enclosing a copy of my letter because

I believe that it might also be of your interest.

I thank you once again for the play and the magazine that you kindly provided me with and,

hoping that I will have the pleasure of meeting you in person, I remain at your disposal.

Yours sincerely,

Gerardo Lazuriaga

University of California

Los Angeles


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Historical Account

The uprising of Anastasio Aquino, the leader of the nonualco tribes in El Salvador, took place in

1833. It was the first insurrectional act of the labourers whose land was taken by the aristocracy.

In contrast to many other uprisings taking place during the 19th century, which were only one

form of resistance to the exploitation done by the land-owners, the uprising led by Aquino

deserves particular attention because it knitted together the claims of the villagers, small

owners and semi-free labourers in their fight for power. With his extraordinary intuition, Aquino

knew that the liberation of the exploited people was possible only through a toppling of the

oppressive government.

Anastasio Aquino rose to prominence when he refused to join the army which the government

of Maríano Prado was setting up for civil wars for which many villagers were recruited. Given

that the villages of San Juan and Santiago Nonualco were the ones most affected, they had

already lost many members of their tribes. Aquino proposed: “Let us retaliate together and not

obey the government of El Salvador. Let us deny them the right to recruit people and impose

taxes on us like they have been doing for so long, oppressing us and sending us to die far away

from our families. Let us fight to death for our cause and I will be your general.”

The villages of Santiago and San Juan Nonualco, as well as Analco and a part of the town of

Zacatecoluca along with their local authorities, responded to this call accompanied also by some

other villages around the capital. Towards the end of January, Aquino could count on an army of

3000 mostly indigenous men to whom he referred as “my valiant lads and army comrades”.

Aquino had extraordinary organizational skills, reckless audacity and he was a man of amazing

courage. People remember him saying that he had never known any fear and that he had never

been afraid of anything or anyone. All these factors assured the victory of his formidable

strategies whose achievements could be compared to those of Túpac Amaru. After Tutecotzinu,

he is the most widely celebrated chief of the pipiles tribes.

After seeing his brother being fastened to ‘trozo’ (a piece of wood) by his landlord and after

witnessing the intolerable scenes of the recruitment of his fellow-villagers, Aquino organized an

uprising with 25 men. He caught the soldiers of the Zacatecoluca regimen unprepared, defeated

them and returned to Santiago Nonualco with a lot of weapons and new men that joined his


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forces along the way. Given that his power increased, he could also defeat the official troops

that were sent to San Salvador to conquer the nonualcos. This was the famous battle of the Las

Vueltas del Loco (of the going mad). Aquino calculated the exact time when the troops would be

passing through that area and he positioned his soldiers in a way which allowed them to act

before the enemy. When they appeared, he confronted them shouting his well-known

harangue: “Arms or life! A hundred here and a hundred there! Go on, you valiant villagers of

Santiago!”

His soldiers attacked in a way that exposed the government troops to a cross-fire threatening to

kill all of those that unconditionally surrendered.

The government soldiers then gathered in Consejo to prepare a trap for Aquino and they caught

him in Tacuazín. But the unconquerable chief had already gone down into history as an

exemplary fighter and the commander of the uprising.


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Stage setting

Mimical scenes. Dances of Anastasio and his fellow soldiers.

Use of various films, slides and scenes from Anastasio´s battles.

The narrator appears a couple of times on the stage, at other points only his voice can be heard.

A play of lights projected onto the protagonists.

On the stage there are objects related to the battles and the places of the play.

Music plays an important role in this play. This refers to the indigenous music that needs to be

created with dedication inspired by the main protagonist. It is to be expected that a composer

from the original indigenous tribe could compose it.


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Prologue

Narrator

I am a vagabond singer and today I will sing a song about a famous fighter, I will sing the ballad

of Anastasio Aquino. It is a story that was important yesterday, that is important today and it

will remain so in all instances in which people embody a drama of solidarity.

Anastasio Aquino had a meeting with his destiny which was waiting for him at Las Vueltas del

Loco, a place where all of his famous battles started, and at Tacuazín where his liberating acts

came to an end.

One can still hear his combative shout: Arms or life! A hundred here and a hundred there! Go

on, you valiant villagers of Santiago!

The ballad of Anastasio Aquino, the commander of the insurrection and a person who can serve

as a model for what a solder should be, stems from the quarry of history, from the pulsating

chronicle of life.

Let your attention and your thoughts be with you as we enter the saga of the famous soldier.

There is always something we can learn from the heroes of the past.

(The narrator bows and disappears from the stage).


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Characters

Anastasio Aquino

María Quinta, Anastasio´s daughter

María, Anastasio´s wife

Blas, Anastasio´s brother

Zarampaña, Anastasio´s secretary

Cascabel, a man first loyal to Anastasio then becoming a traitor

Commander of the Government troops

Cura Navarro

Anastasio´s assistants (followers)

Matilde Marin

Narrator

Choir of nonualcos

Young ladies accompanying Matilde Marin

Soldiers of Anastasio

Government soldiers

An official

A villager (a resident of the village in which the play is set).

An emigrant

Armed people of the tribes maya-quichés and pipiles


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First act

Place

Santiago Nonualco. A dusty road typical of the West of the Republic leading towards the main

square of the village. A man arrives dressed in a traditional costume and wearing leather

sandals. He stops there. He puts his bag (backpack) and his small water container on the ground.

He sits down on the edge of the road. He is an emigrant labourer, one of those wandering from

one place to another looking for work. A resident of the village appears on the stage.

Villager

(Noticing the labourer).

Today the heroic feat of the nonualcos is celebrated in the village. Are you here because of that?

Emigrant

No. I am just passing by. Which heroic feat are you talking about?

Villager

About the uprising of nunalcos led by Aquino.

Villager

Haven´t you heard the song? Now the historiantes1 will sing it…

(The historiantes appear wearing the masks representing tigers and other animals. They dance

tiger dances). The song of Anastasio Aquino sung by the choir comes from far away.

Commander Anastasio Aquino, Tells you to inform Prado, That he will never fight, Against the people of Santiago!

(Refrain).

1 Traditional El Salvadorian dancers/performers


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Anastasio reinforces his words with his weapons.

He also tells you to inform, That the Indians will rule, Because this land belongs to them, As he himself knows.

(Refrain).


He was a brave commander, No one could challenge him, With his arms, He was threatening even the heavens.


He brought justice with his own hands, And he defended our rights, The rights that come to us from the past, And through the land we inherited.


He defeated them, On the field of honour, No one could beat him, He will be back by dawn!


Emigrant

This is a nice song. The ballad of Aquino.

Villager

His name comes as a refreshing rain.


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Emigrant

Is he the one who descended from the hills and took the soldiers´ weapons?

Villager

He led the greatest rebellion of this land!

Emigrant

And how did it all finish?

Villager

It´s a long story. He defeated them, they could not beat him. He was a messenger of fortune. He

challenged the government with a couple of men and then the whole land united to fight on his

side.

Emigrant

He was a man of courage!

Villager

He had what it takes to make heroic feats!

Emigrant

Is that the one that was crowned at the church?

Villager

These are the lies of the old women!

Emigrant

Which were his motives (objectives)?

Villager

He wanted to do away with injustice.


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Emigrant

And how did it all finish?

Villager

They used the oldest weapon in the world: a woman.

Emigrant

Such an astute man that trusts women!

Villager

They told him that she was in danger and he wanted to protect her.

Emigrant

But his people, the nonualcos, what did they do?

Villager

The oppression was terrible. The damned soldiers plundered and burned down the village and

they hanged the rebels. This tamarind tree has been dry since then; it is at that time that it

started withering away.

(María Quinta, Anastasio´s daughter appears. She approaches the square and stops near the

tamarind tree. She kneels down and arranges fresh festoons. Some people leave after gathering

around the square).

María Quinta

Since then this tree has been dry and it cannot flourish. All the bitterness of life came upon us

when your branches bent under the weight of those twenty unfortunate men. Look at the

wounded tree! It will have new shoots. This green has been revived by my words. They already

have the flag of the indigo (colour). Your flag! The flag which I saw when it still had your blood

on it.


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Emigrante

Who is she?

Villager

María Quinta, Anastasios’s daughter.

Emigrant

(Impressed (moved)).

She is talking about blood.

Villager

We were given a sign. El Tayte is back.

Emigrant

He is dead.

Villager

He will be back by dawn. At dusk he appears on that hill riding his white horse. People see him

and then he disappears into the sky.

Emigrant

That must be his ghost.

María Quinta

(Lost in her thoughts).

You came back, father! That is why the cenzontle2 sang and the quetzal3 flew to the mountains.

Choir

2 A South American bird famous for its beautiful singing

3 A tropical American bird


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(From far away).

That is why the cenzontle sang and the quetzal flew to the mountains. Those were the signs.

María Quinta

Lead us now, father! Let us not wait any more! Our fight has started!

Messenger

(Entering the stage).

María Quinta! The nonualcos have risen everywhere. They are already fighting in the

neighbouring village and triumphantly coming down from the mountains.

María Quinta

Did you hear this, Commander? Give us orders, Aquino! Mother, get ready, we are going to

fight.

Messenger

Invincible columns are approaching. They are so united that it seems as if a mountain were

coming closer. These are all the tribes from the lands beyond the river Paz and those beyond the

Goascorán. Brotherhood, brotherhood, brotherhood is what unites the nonualcos. Our fight!

Our struggle has started and this time we will prevail!

Choir

He is back, he is back! A hundred here and a hundred there! Go on, you valiant villagers of

Santiago! And this time we will prevail!

(The ballad of Anastasio Aquino can be heard coming from far away as the compact columns of

soldiers move forward).

Come back, old man, with your combative shout, Come back, you who were made of stone and who gave no respite, Your wounded brother moans fastened to ‘trozo’ (a piece of wood), And there is no one to free him like you did it once, You, the leader of the Nonualcos, unite your people! Take arms, our father, because our cause is just,


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And armed up to your teeth, wait for them, Aquino, At Las Vueltas del Loco. We will prevail again. The invincible army that you are building up step by step Will always follow you from one battle to the other. These are the people of your village and they have your face, The same turbulent blood flows in them as well. Only to them can you confide your insurrection flag, Which has been already raised in all the villages. We will follow you over the hills and ravines, It is your people that are rising. Your were right, Aquino, our rights can be defended Only with arms. Come back, commander! The insurrection wants once again to light up its torches. Combatant, the time to fight has come! Pitch your victory flag high until it covers The whole land of the pipiles tribes! Leap over the dangers and the betrayal conjured against you. Lift up the flag stained with your blood. Make us hear the drums of war all the way to Teponahuaste. Their roar has already united the pipiles, It is echoed by the plants and the pipes of rum. The leaders of Nonualcos, your reinforcements are coming! You never learned that the people even Beyond the river Paz joined you when you died at that Infamous place and when your head Was dragged along the canals as a useless remnant. Wake up, rise! Listen to our clamour! The people of pipiles and ardent mayas have risen To give you a hand and they swear on their Ancestors’ blood that they will regain their land. Delirious indigenous music. [(As the narrator recites the ballad, the dancers interpret the scene through a folkloric dance). It is to be expected that in the future the Ballad of Anastasio Aquino will be made into a nice choreography. Victory dance!]


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Second act

Repression Dance

Scene 1

(The narrator’s voice is a bit distant, but then it becomes more and more audible).

A formidable shout of the land reverberates over the mountains: A hundred here and a hundred there! It is Aquino arranging his soldiers. And the tribes of nonualcas rise, The people of corn and crops They are led by a strong and pure Indian For whose blood rise the pipiles. It is defiant Anastasio Aquino, He is frowning dressed in a tiger skin, On his white horse he is going to the Very doors of the government! He is defeating the best soldiers With his skilful ambushes, Not even the devil could stop him, Because he is propelled by his ancestors! He is grasping his weapon4 He knows no fear and he never surrenders, With his Indians he fights at Tacuazín! Play the drums of war, father Aquino! The tam-tam that will unite the pipiles, Shout that rebellious slogan: Free land! And spread the flag of the battle.

(The slides should keep the spectators immersed into the battle and the victories of the brilliant

leader).

4 Trabuco – a weapon of small calibre


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Scene 2

The stage is full of movements that should imply various acts of violence against the nonualcos:

attacks, captures, confrontations with the soldiers. The same ballet could dance the repression

dance.

Scene set: Hacienda Jalpongita. There is a pool full of bluing5. It is the place where Aquino works

as a chief. The year is 1833. There is a group of nonualcos persecuted by the soldiers.

Anastasio

(He appears on the stage persecuted by a group of soldiers that want to capture him. He

addresses the group of nonualcos).

Men, do not let the soldiers capture us! Be careful, brothers!

Nonualco

(Coming from the group of men that is moving forward).

You are right. The village is being stripped of its men. They are recruiting us for this absurd war

and they want to make us work for the government.

Anastasio

They want to make you work for the bosses after you are done with your daily duties. The

working day is hard and they pay us little. On top of this they want us to work even more. They

want our women to work for them too.

Another Nonualco

I think that they are recruiting us so that they can be with our women. They have no respect.

They do not respect our daughters; they do not respect our sisters.

Anastasio

5 Añil – indigo plant


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It is the time to resist. It is the time to rise and not to obey anymore.

(He remains thoughtful; it looks as an idea is maturing in his mind, an idea which is so explosive

that it can burst in his hands).

Let us rise, men!

Young man

(Entering).

Your brother Blas!

Anastasio

What is going on with my brother?

Young man

(Almost breathless).

He is being punished on the ‘trozo’ (piece of wood). Look at him!

(He is pointing towards a place outside of the stage).

Anastasio

(Moving towards the pointed place).

Why is this happening if he finished his work on time?

Young man

(Approaching Anastasio).

Because, because...he actually wanted to leave earlier.

(Voices can be heard outside of the stage).

Nonualco

(One of those belonging to the group persecuted by the soldiers).

Free him, Anastasio!


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Anastasio

We will not allow them to torture us on the ‘trozo’, never again! I have freed him and I have

thrown away that piece of wood!

The boss

(Entering angrily and wanting to slap Anastasio in the face).

Anastasio

(Prevents the boss from slapping him and pushes him away).

Do not touch me, you damned beast!

(Anastasio confronts him resolutely. The men around Anastasio slowly leave the stage and the

boss retreats in fear. Anastasio watches him disappear from the stage).

Nonualco

We are lost. The boss went to Zacatecoluca. Do you know what this means?

Anastasio

Well, of course. We have rebelled. There will be troops coming to capture us. But before they do

so, we will know how to die valiantly.

Scene 3

A road leading to Zacatecoluca during the night. The nonualcos are moving without making any

noise. They are closely following Anastasio. It is a night-time and they are proceeding very

carefully.

Anastasio

We still need to cross this small forest. This is a path that no one knows and it is far away from

the main road. It belongs to a big hacienda. We will be there soon. There is a shortcut that will

bring us just in front of the quarters.


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Nonualco

It is almost dawn. We have to hurry; the soldiers will wake up soon.

Anastasio

We will surprise the soldiers while they are still asleep at the very moment of opening the main

gate. So, we have to enter quickly and the rest you already know.

Third act

Narrator’s voice coming from above

Rejoice! What is this that I hear? The tribes of nonualco have risen and they have taken

Zacatecoluca. More reinforcements are coming from San Vincente and they are still expecting

those from San Salvador.

Scene 1

Anastasio appears with his men

Anastasio

(Speaking quietly).

We will stay here and wait for them. They are coming from San Salvador using this old road. We

will throw ourselves like an avalanche on the troops. They will not even be able to use their

weapons.

Villager

(Quickly).

They are coming, Anastasio...exactly as you told us.

Anastasio

Take your arms, comarades!

(They attack the soldiers who start throwing away their weapons in fear).


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The narrator should describe the battles also by locating them on a map provided by the

director.

Choir

(Once the noise of the fighting is no longer audible).

Victory, victory! We have won, Aquino. Long live our commander! Long live the independent

republic of the Indians!

The soldiers leave, surprised by the cross-fire.

Scene 2

(Anastasio finds himself in the very midst of the battlefield with his army which has become

much more numerous. He is arranging his soldiers that have gathered from everywhere).

Anastasio

This is a just war, my comrades. Justice is on our side. What purpose did it have when our bosses

told us that we were not slaves anymore if we still live in the same way? We have asked for

justice and no one heard us. We cannot be just cannon-fodder for wars that do not concern us.

We were not born to die like slaves!

Shouts of war and applauses.

Anastasio

We cannot stand this any longer.

(The soldiers support him emphatically).

Anastasio

What has become out of our land? Our brothers continue being miserable have-nots; they are

just slaves of the landowners. And as if this were not enough, they hunt us like animals to send


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us to die far away from our land without even telling us the reason for which we are supposed

to fight. But today we are free.

(The soldiers shout ‘hurrah!’).

I proclaim myself the commander-in-chief of the liberating forces of Santiago Nonualco.

(Deafening applauses).

Anastasio

We will not obey the government of San Salvador. We have taken our arms and we will fight to

death.

(Deafening acclamation and shouting).


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Fourth act

Setting

Church of the Virgen del Pilar in San Vincente. Anastasio is at the peak of his glory as a fighter

wearing a blue ribbon – a symbol of nonualco power – and a brown cloak. He is also wearing

tiger fur. It is a night-time. He looks tired. Massive, tall and stout, he dominates the other

soldiers with his physique. The village enthusiastically welcomes the rebellious commander.

Aquino enters the village accompanied by music and the sound of missiles and bombs.

Anastasio

I am impressed by the way in which you welcome me. I did not expect this. But the most

important ones are not here. (With irony). I mean those who have money.

Priest

We all love you, son!

Anastasio

Come on, father! Cut these flatteries! Tell me where is the money and where are the jewels

which you got for protecting the bosses!

Priest

(Surprised).

Money? I don’t know...

Anastasio

Of course you know and you must not lie to me. My men will find it.

Priest

They gave me something so that I can take care of it.


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Anastasio

The revolution will take a better care of it.

(He gives an order).

Let us not waste any time!

(The priest withdraws).

We confiscate this in the name of our war.

Zarampaña

(The secretary. Coming from the back of the church and pointing to the money and the jewels).

Everything is ready, commander. We can go now.

Cascabel

(Anastasio’s deputy).

(He is taking the diadem of the patriarch of San José into his hands. It is decorated with

diamonds and emeralds).

Take it, commander, it belongs to you, it is the crown representing your power!

(He approaches Anastasio solemnly).

I crown you.

Anastasio

(He takes the crown for a moment and looks at it enraptured. The shine of the precious stones

astonishes him for an instant. He lifts the crown towards his head without putting it there).

I proclaim myself the king of nonualcos!

(He laughs. Everyone turns towards him in amazement. Zarampaña steadily looks at him with

disapproval).


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Zarampaña

(Quietly).

Anastasio!

Anastasio

(Feeling his looks and laughing).

Why would Anastasio want a crown? A fighter does not need diadems...

(He gives the crown back to Cascabel).

Leave it!

Cascabel

It is very precious, general!

Anastasio

(Irritated).

I am telling you to leave it...

Cascabel

Do you believe in destiny, general?

Anastasio

In destiny?

(He vacillates for a moment, looks a bit disturbed and there is a lightning in his eyes).

Cascabel

You are the Tayte, a man of special breed (special qualities).


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Anastasio

(Interrupting him).

It is enough now, Cascabel!

The only thing that a warrior needs are his arms (weapons)!

(He turns his back to Cascabel who watches him with an obvious jealousy).


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Fifth act

In Apastepeque, on their way to Tepetitán. Anastasio is surrounded by the villagers. He

approves of all the requests of the people. People thank him. One needs to feel the

identification of Anastasio with his people.

Anastasio

Justice will be done for all of you. Justice of the people! We will help you all!

(He attends tirelessly to the ever bigger crowd).

Zarampaña

(Entering with some papers).

These are the decrees, general!

Anastasio

Are you bringing the laws of the land(ownership)?

(Turning towards the people).

I hereby order that the land is to be returned to the villagers whose rights were usurped.

People

(Applauding).

God bless you!

Zarampaña

(Radiantly).

You have made a revolution now!


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(Anastasio quickly signs the papers. Zarampaña takes them and starts reading quietly):

From this moment on there is a moratorium on the Law of the land(ownership). (The people are

now free from the obligation to pay any debtors occupying the territory under my rule).

(The people withdraw. Anastasio remains alone).

Anastasio

I took the arms on behalf of the people. It was impossible to go on like this anymore...

Choir

(Singing).

The swords of corn have risen...

(Coming from the distance).

Anastasio

The people are now free. They live with dignity.

Choir

The rebellion has lifted its head. The rebellion has lit its torches.

Anastasio

I don’t want to be blinded by vanity. I am not a stick that folds under the river carrying chunks of

gold.

(Walking around).

Choir

The rebellion has lifted its head. Lead us well, our star!

Anastasio

(Gloomy).


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To be so close to San Salvador and not to take power!

Oh hell! Why was I in San Vicente? I should have gone to San Salvador to overthrow the

government. Me in the government? Thousands of men would have given me support, there are

thousands counting on me...I should have hit them harder...defeat them in the very heart of the

city!

(He moves around meditating).

Curtain.


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Sixth act

Betrayal dance

Scene 1

Dance with the topic of Cascabel’s betrayal. Play of lights. Soldiers enter dancing.

These are Aquino’s soldiers entering a village close to San Vicente. They are celebrating

Anastasio’s latest victory. Women are trying to escape but men run after them, hold them for

their belts and dance with them. Matilde, a very beautiful woman and the main lady of the place

passes by and watches the scene with an apparent discomfort. Cascabel jumps on her and tries

to reach for her belt. She refuses with a lot of pride. Cascabel imposes himself on her in a

forceful manner.

Anastasio

(Suddenly appears and watches the scene with anger. He orders them to stop by raising his

hand. Everyone obeys, except for Cascabel who is still holding Matilde by the hand. She turns

towards Anastasio begging for mercy. Anastasio drags Cascabel who falls onto the ground after

a brief act of resistance. Anastasio turns to Matilde who thanks him with her look. Her look is

very intense and it is worth a whole scene. Anastasio remains impressed by this look and

withdraws. Everyone follows him. The lady goes on watching him.

Cascabel quickly jumps from the ground and withdraws towards the opposite side swearing.

Scene 2

Military garrison of the government

A moving setting should immediately imply, as if it were the second side of the medal, a scene of

the government army barracks. Cascabel wants to be received by the commander. A soldier asks

for permission and lets him pass.


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Commander

(Turning towards Cascabel).

What do you want?

(Looking at him intensely).

You are one of Anastasio’s men! What do you want?

Cascabel

(Agitated, almost stammering).

I am not with him. I have left him. And now I am here because I can help you. I know a lot.

(Speaking quietly as if fearing that he could be heard).

Commander

(Listening attentively).

Tell us what you have to say.

Cascabel

(Doing a sketch and explaining quietly).

Here is the plan.

Commander

How can I know that you will not trick me?

Cascabel

I am your hostage.

Commander

You should not doubt that. You will not leave this place alive if you are lying.


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(He remains thoughtful and calls for a priest).

Priest

(Coming in discreetly and approaching the commander. They talk quietly).

It is fine. I will go there myself. I will talk to him and then we will know whether this is a trick or

not. He knows me...


33

Seventh act

In Tacuazín, Anastasio’s fortress

Choir

Cascabel, Cascabel! Are you covering yourself with a glorious tiger skin. The invincible is in

Tacuazín. You are playing with death.

Anastasio

(On his own. It is a monologue, but the choir, outside of the stage, replies to Anastasio’s words).

A tiger never surrenders. I will not drop my arms. A tiger fights ferociously till death. Betrayal,

betrayal! I know the traitor who revealed my plans. But even if I were fastened to a rock, I would

fight till death.

Choir

The trap is becoming larger encircling the tiger around his den.

Anastasio

A good fighter must be astute enough to evade all the traps and he must have the strength of a

lion to keep many wolves away. But I am now challenging the devil himself. In spite of the

betrayal, the nonualcos will flow like rivers towards the sea.

Choir

Be careful, commander! Last night an owl sang. Last night an owl screeched.

Anastasio

Last night a dichosofui6 sang. Dichosofui, dichosofui. He must have sung for me. Oh, you soldier

of fortune, you trusted your star too much.

Choir

6 Another type of South American bird


34

Don’t give up on your fight! A warrior never surrenders! He penetrates into the very heart of the

mountain.

Anastasio

What will I achieve with all this? What have I already achieved? Death! Destruction! War...No!

Choir

You are a son of the lightning! You are a son of the mountains! Your victories will flow like the

river Lempa with its rich water through villages and towns. Your glory will go far beyond the

river Paz. Your message will reach beyond the Goascorán. The rapids turn on your command!

Oh, you who are the loved son of the people. Even the river plants know about your victories.

Anastasion

I will not retreat, not a single step. What else can I do? (Who am I to decide who should live and

who should die?). (Why me?). But even if everything fails, I will not surrender!

Choir

Your star has reached its apex! Your glory has reached its zenith! The legacy of nonualco is in

your blood. You who are loved by the Gods of the pipiles.

Anastasio

War is an insatiable hyena! A fire in a meadow which cannot be contained and which devours it

all. War is an insatiable hyena!

Choir

But you had justice in your hands. You were the carrier of happiness. You were the magnet for

all of those working in the fields. There was hope shining in them. You gave them future.

Anastasio

Now I cannot retreat. I cannot deceive my people. Anastasio, do you remember your combative

promise?


35

Death or triumph!

Victory or death!

Choir

You are the son of fortune. We are all with you. Death or triumph! Victory or death!

Scene 2

Anastasio

(One of his men enters and talks to him quietly).

A priest? Yes, I know him. He taught me the doctrine when I was a child. Let him in.

Priest

(Enters cautiously).

My son, I am here to save you. I am bringing you the news of those who rule...but you have to

lay down the arms. You must abandon your aggressive attitude! I have pleaded for your with the

authorities and they have promised...

Anastasio

I never asked you to plead for me, father! To intervene in the midst of the war...

Priest

Do not get me wrong. I wanted to help you because I see how the situation is developing...

Anastasio

Fine...

(Resolutely).

Priest

There are many injustices, my son...our lord sees them all...a remedy is in his hands...


36

(Breathing in).

(Inspired). Leave the vengeance to me! Everything will be restored. The government will

approve and with the approval of the God as well...you will have your relative independence.

Anastasio

But we have done justice already. We have taken it in our own hands. We have retrieved our

land. And we have taken arms to defend it.

Priest

This situation is unbearable. This craziness has to stop. We have to bring peace back. The

government is ready to recognize your military skills. To appoint some leaders taken from your

people...but you have to lay down the arms, you have to give the land back...

Anastasio

(Unable to keep calm any longer).

The land? It is ours and we will not give it to anyone. We have the right to it...we have our

weapons to defend it...

Priest

This is a nightmare, a lunacy, that we have to go on with this war...the economy has been

wounded, there are no salaries, the people of San Salvador suffer...

Anastasio

Yes, because they have a useless government which is totally unable. The nonualco republic

does not suffer from hunger and it is free.

Priest

It is impossible to live with violence and with death always behind you.


37

Anastasio

We have not started this violence. Injustice has created it. We do not want to be oppressed and

killed. And we do not want to be sent to wars which they wage so capriciously. We have created

an order and revived our people...

Priest

The government is the only authority here, you fool!

Anastasio

Which authority, father? Are you talking seriously? San Martín does not listen to the voice of the

people. Anastasio Aquino has been elected by the people.

(He stands up).

Priest

The God will punish this pride. A punishment will fall upon you.

Anastasio

Now you are talking clearly. Forget it, father, because I know how to fight in the mountains. I

can slide like a wild cat and move like a lightning.

Priest

Fine, there will be no surprises...we know you already.

Anastasio

Yes, I know myself too...and the whole army knows me.

Priest

I talk on behalf of God’s mission and that is why I require peace. I plea for a pacifist struggle.

Anastasio

And I talk on behalf of those who do not want to be conquered.


38

Priest

Oh, you, silly leader!

Anastasio

Be careful with your words, you who are a puppet of the bosses.

Priest

I go now, I have heard enough.

Anastasio

I have seen enough. Tell them that I am armed up to my teeth and that I am waiting for them.

We will maintain this peace if they do not attack us. Tell them to recognize our republic.

Priest

You are surrounded. The trap which they have prepared for you is coming closer.

Anastasio

My army has grown, my men are loyal.

Priest

Not all of them.

(Ambiguously).

Are you not afraid of God?

Anastasio

(Calmly).

You know, father. I have never had any fear. I am not afraid either of men or of beasts. The God

has been with me in my battles.

Priest

What are you saying, you blasphemous fool?


39

Anastasio

I am only afraid when my wife gets angry and especially when she cries...

(Laughing).

Priest

It is impossible to agree on anything with you. The God will punish you. Your punishment will

come.

Anastasio

What will happen, will happen.

(The priest leaves the stage furiously).


40

Eighth act

The prison of Santiago Nonualco.

A couple of soldiers are coming closer to the bars behind which Anastasio is sitting in chains.

The narrator’s voice is audible.

Narrator

Anastasio is in chains! The homeland of the nonulacas is in chains.

Only a betrayal could harm him.

Choir

We are lost. Tell us, how did it happen that they fastened him there?

Narrator

A messenger was sent by Matilde.

He said that the lady was in danger, that Cascabel did with her what he wanted.

Choir

Oh, God, generous Anastasio. Only like that could they capture him. They set a trap for you, a

trap, our general.

Anastasio

(Over the voices and addressing the soldiers).

You are also poor exploited people, you are constantly abused. You belong to the people and I

wanted to liberate you all.

(The soldiers wink and laugh).

Anastasio

(With contempt).


41

You used to be afraid of me. Now you can make fun of me suffering under the weight of the

chains. I am a tiger without claws and without fangs.

(The priest enters discreetly).

Priest

You see, my son, we see each other again.

Anastasio

(Scornfully).

You!

Priest

You will face the justice of God very soon.

Anastasio

I am not guilty of anything.

Priest

What about your crimes?

Anastasio

I never killed for the sake of killing. We were in war. What do the government men do? Kill, kill,

kill, and send people to death.

Priest

They defend the homeland.

Anastasio

I represent the homeland of the nonualcos. We defend our own homeland.


42

Priest

I mean the homeland of the majority...and the order...

Anastasio

Also when they kill my men like animals? They attacked Indian people without mercy just to

capture me. Does your Bible say one thing for the people and another for the government?

Priest

But you challenged them. You led the insurrection.

Anastasio

Insurrection is the right of the people everywhere where injustice rules.

Priest

You waged the war, you sprinkled death.

Anastasio

In a war, father, the blood of the winners goes through the veins of the defeated.

Priest

Oh lord, how can I listen to this?

Anastasio

(Turning his back towards the priest).

It is enough, father. Leave me alone!

Priest

You are not afraid of God? Of his presence?


43

Anastasio

If I were a coward, I would use my wife’s smock.

(An official enters with a paper and starts to read).

Official

Anastasio Mártir Aquino...in the name of the law...

Anastasio

(Interrupting the official).

I am ready to play a blinded hen!


44

Ninth act

The square in Santiago Nonualco where Anastasio Aquino was executed. The wife of Anastasio

arrives with a black shawl. She beholds the tamarind tree.

Anastasio’s wife

You, tree of blood. The blood of all the nonualcos has reached your roots.

(She touches her neck).

We have all lost you. Now I know that you are dead.

(Her tears cover her face).

Where is a remedy for these sad people?

Choir

We have to suffer now. We have to carry the cross of the nonualcos. And there is only one cross

on our land. There is only one cross standing above all our bodies.

Anastasio’s wife

You, generous warrior! I was watching you descend from the mountains like a free stag. Now

you ride your horse during the night and I hear your horse hitting my chest.

Choir

The pain is still hitting us with its bitter whip. Dead, dead and ever more dead!

My race suffers so much, my race, the root of the Indian tree.

Anastasio’s wife

This place is full of dead birds. These are the times full of dead birds.


45

Choir

Dead, dead and ever more dead!

The birds of evil have spread the news carried by the winds!

Anastasio’s wife joins the choir and remains there as a bas-relief.

Matilde Marin enters.

Matilde

(Not noticing anyone).

One would need to be made of stone not to feel this pain. Such an inhuman murder. And that

man suffered like Christ. Anastasio Mártir. Without knowing it, I was the reason for your death.

Choir

Oh, you great Nahuat, the last one of your race. You rose above your people who gave you this

great statue of a hero. Anastasio Mártir. The very best of the Nahuat race! Tragedy was

following you. Misfortune was brought by the wind. The things ended up unfavourably for the

nonualco people.

Blas

(Anastasio’s brother. Enters and turns himself towards the choir).

But he was not defeated! Death is not always a defeat! Anastasio is more alive now than ever.

Anastasio’s wife

(She goes towards Blas without looking at Matilde who discreetly leaves the stage at the

opposite side).

Oh, brother! You have to go as well. They will kill you too.


46

Blas

No, María, because it is not over yet. We have sent messengers everywhere so that they can

unite the dispersed tribes. On the other side of the river Paz a Grand Council of the tribes will

gather. I cannot tell you more. We have to fight, we have to bring all the threads together and

join our forces.

Anastasio’s wife

What is this that you are saying? Ours are dead and below the ground.

Blas

We will replace them.

Anastasio’s wife

The blackest of all winds annihilated our people.

Blas

No! Because we are here and you also have a daughter, Aquino’s daughter.

Anastasio’s wife

No one pronounces this name anymore and I am hiding my daughter. You can do what you

want, call yourself a danger, or a recruit, I don’t care.

Blas

I am not a renegade and I would sell my head for a high price. I will go to the cruel mountains

and one will talk again about the nonualcos.

Anastasio’s wife

There has been enough blood already. The tribe of nonualcos has disappeared. There is only a

cross and a tree that has withered away because of so much blood.


47

Blas

We will come back in spite of the repression. There was a betrayal, but there was no defeat. We

have been caught, but we will jump like an animal captured in a trap.

Anastasio’s wife

It is the trap that killed glorious Aquino. The trap prepared by that woman...

Blas

He was dragged by a black wind. But we will fight against the wind as well. Against the

misfortune that befell upon us at the moment when we had everything in our hands.

Anastasio’s wife

Be careful, Blas. What else could I tell you?

Blas

I have to go. You will have more news from me. Take care of yourself. I am now going into the

shadows, into the night, where no one will see me. I have to bring together the sprinkled

remnants of the nonualcos. And when the right moment comes...! No one should talk about

defeats as long as there is one living nonualco.

Choir

(Coming from far away).

Lift the obscure obsidian

With the black lights

Behind the mirror.

Lift the blade that will

Smash the very core of fire.

Shout into the winds:

Death or triumph!

(Like an echo).


48

Death or triumph!

Victory or death!

Refrain

And let the obsidian

Smash the indecisive!

Victory or death!

A owl has screeched

An owl has screeched

An eagle of the colour of our time

Has appeared in the future

A pure nonualco will

Return from the dead.

Refrain

They have risen

They have risen

They have risen

The swords of corn

The daggers of izote7

The swords of agave

They are waving their flags

With orchard scrubs

With banana leaves

With bluing leaves

7 A type of tree found in Central America


49

A pure nonualco will

Return from the dead

And leaves of grama8

Will speak nahuat!

The earth now covers Aquino

With his weapons

But a pure nonualco

Will return from the dead!

Long live the republic of the nonualcos!

Death or triumph!

Victory or death!

Curtain.

8 pasture grass of plains in South America and western North America


50

Appendix

Note 1

This note refers to the chronicle about an indigenous leader, belonging to the Indian tribe of

nonualcos – in the region of the river Paz – and known by the name of Anastasio Mártir Aquino,

who, while occupying himself with his routine duties heard that his brother Blas Aquino was

castigated at the “trozo” by one of the owners of the hacienda Jalponguita where they both

worked. The “trozo” (piece of wood) was an instrument for punishing people, made of wood

and having a string of needles which were used for fixing either the ankles or the neck of the

tortured person. It consisted of two lids with hinges and a padlock at the other end.

Anastasio was furious after hearing the news regarding his brother and he broke the padlock to

liberate him.

The chronicle reports that the irascible patron threatened to attack Anastasio, but his resolute

behaviour prevented him from doing so. The labourers who were ready to do anything gathered

behind Anastasio which made the old patron immediately leave for the city of Zacatecoluca.

Aquino, who was an authentic leader, a man of temper, understood quite clearly that there was

an equivalence between his personal dignity and the sovereignty of the nonualco tribes.

Note 2

The army of Anastasio grew to around 3000 soldiers who were ready to do anything for their

cause. The popular support was obvious. Aquino was going around the nonualco territories

bringing justice to his people. The invasion on San Vicente was going on. The people of that

town were informed by the authorities about the arrival of the famous warrior. The officials

decided to hide themselves. The town, represented by the local priest, enthusiastically

welcomed the rebellious commander. Aquino entered the town accompanied by music and

shelling during one beautiful morning on 15 February 1833.

Someone informed the leader that even though the local bosses did not organize military

resistance to his army, they were not ready to financially support its maintenance. The report


51

also said that many of them had hidden their valuables at the local church of the Virgen del

Pilar.

Once they were informed about everything, Anastasio and his brother Blas ordered the priest to

go back to his church, take the hidden treasure and hand it over to them. In such a way a large

sum of money became part of the revolutionary property. Zarampaña, who was the treasurer

and Anastasio’s personal secretary, meticulously noted everything that was taken on that

occasion. The legend says that when Aquino saw the crown of San José, he took it in his hands

and he put it on his head. As a result of this legend, there is a false belief that Anastasio

proclaimed himself the king of the nonualco tribes.

Note 3

The members of the black nubarrones tribe were joining the commander-in-chief of the

nonualcos. But a fatal trap was being prepared for him in San Salvador. The leader of the state,

San Martín, could count on the support of Creole people as well as the clericals and military

experts. San Martín managed to save some time and he also wanted to test Aquino’s military

potential and distract him by offering him a false agreement. The priest Navarro was an

intermediary who on 21 February came to Aquino’s headquarters only to be rejected by him.

Note 4

The government is preparing for hunting the leader of the liberating forces. Colonel Juan José

López was advancing towards the Orient. A division led by Colonel Benítez was going along the

coast. In total, a hundred thousand men were sent to capture the rebel.

However, Aquino is also ready. On 27 February, the government forces led by Captain Cuéllar

were advancing imprudently, looking for contact with Colonel Juan José López. They

encountered the rebels in a place called Las Vueltas del Loco de Olocuilta which is positioned on

the road to Santiago Nonualco. There they had an opportunity to listen to the famous

combative shout of Anastasio Aquino: A hundred there and a hundred here! Go on, you valiant

villagers of Santiago. The defeated soldiers were looking for a refuge in the villages of Talpa and

Olocuilta. In the meantime, Aquino went back to his headquarters with a substantive booty of

the battle.


52

On 28 February, the forces led by Benítez and López got in touch with each other following the

previously established general plan; the troops of San Martín were already located in

Zacatecoluca, 3 miles away from San Juan Nonualco. Anastasio Aquino was going around his

forces trying to encourage his brothers. But they were moved out of this place. A major portion

of the rebels’ army was retracting towards Santiago Nonualco. The battle was terrible. There

were dead soldiers on all sides, but the government troops were superior both in terms of

numbers and armoury. Because of that and after fighting the whole day, around 3 o’clock p.m.

the villagers of Santiago retreated towards the hill of Tacuazin which is located on the northern

side of the village.

There is an enormous cave there which the great rebel kept full of weapons. El Tacuazín is

unconquerable and even the united forces of the government did not attempt to attack it.

However, they took recourse to betrayal and bribery that was incubating in Zacatecoluca.

Cascabel was used as an instrument of the government to set up a trap for his boss.

Note 5

The chronicle reports that Cascabel, Anastasio’s deputy, knowing his inclination towards Matilde

Marín, whom he protected from the abuses of Cascabel, made use of her name to send him a

message that the women was in need of help. In such a way, on 21 April, the traitor handed his

commander over to the government forces which were unable to defeat him on the battlefield.

Birth certificate of Anastasio Aquino

On 16 April 1792 in Santiago Nonualco. I, the priest, preformed all the necessary operations

putting oil and solemnly baptising Anastacio Mártir who was born on the 15th and who is a

legitimate son of Thomas de Aquino and María de San Carlos, both Indians. The godfather was

Juliam Cisneros whom I informed about his duties. I certify this with my signature Antonio Roza

de Aguado.

Page 117 of the 13th Tome of the parochial books of Santiago Nonualco from 1789 to 1794.


53

Los ensayos sobre el teatro salvadoreño

Traducidos del español al inglés por Bojan Bilid


54

Roberto Salomón

The lady from San Sebastián del Cuscatlán

We were performing a play in a village called San Sebastián, in the region of Cuscatlán, which

has one of the longest traditions of indigo production in El Salvador. If we can trust the memory

of one of the oldest residents of that place, which has been for long producing fine (indigo)

tissues, up to that point no other theatre group had ever visited the Cuscatalán region. She was

sitting there so patiently and passively that, at one moment, it came to my mind that it might

have been better if we had played something more humorous or frivolous so that we could

have, for at least a little while, done away with the sorrow which was visible in her look.

We switched on our two reflectors and our play, written by Anton Chekhov, started. It was The

Living Merchandise, one of so many Chekov’s stories that have been turned into theatre plays.

The play talks about a happy couple leading a petty petit-bourgeois life. At one point they are

visited by someone who offers to buy the woman. In return they would get everything they

aspire to: money and social status. The husband accepts the offer.

Let us turn back to our (lady) spectator. She was watching the play in the same way in which she

would watch a telenovela. However, at one of the most dramatic moments of the play, she

cheered up a bit and said quietly: “Oh, is he going to sell her?”. So, the play continued and as the

lady’s worries became increasingly justified, she was fidgeting more and more in her seat until

the point at which she could no longer bear it and she screamed: “Ah, he sold her!”. Fortunately

enough, the exclamation of the spectator coincided perfectly with the end of the play, but on

that day I learned that theatre has a force which cannot be rivalled by any electronic medium.

This lady lived the experience which was unfolding in front of her eyes and even though I am

sure that she has seen tens of telenovelas since that moment, there has not been a single

dramatic situation which she would recall with so much detail.

This anecdote happened in 1975. At that point we were already touring the country for at least

five years, performing all kinds of theatre, ranging from pantomime to didactical theatre, to

farce and drama. But shortly after this theatrical tour around the provinces, it became rather

difficult for us to perform outside the capital. There was no transport, or the people who were


55

in charge of these matters in various villages changed, or maybe an actor abandoned theatre

because it was not sufficiently political for them, some others left it behind because it was too

much for them. All in all, as always, this tour ended for the reasons which never had anything to

do with theatre itself.

However, the seeds of what could be done with theatre in El Salvador were planted. One will

now need to nourish them, first, locally so that one can do away with the painful experience of

cultural transplants and, second – socially, so that the spectators can be addressed with

concrete problems bothering them on a daily basis. It will, of course, have to pass through a long

period of searching for itself. During this time it might appear to the artist that the content is

more important than its form. But, later on, the same artist will arrive at the conclusion that

without the right form, this content, which they might consider so central, will not be able to

reach the spectators; and it will finally find its own way.

The question is, then, which plays are to be performed? This is exactly the problem of the future

of El Salvadorian theatre. By now we have actors and directors, one could say that we have a

sufficient number of theatre-related people; what is more, our spectators have developed a

wish for seeing theatre plays. But where are writers, poets, or playwrights? They have somehow

remained outside of this circle of interactions. The reasons behind this social and cultural

phenomenon are not what we are interested in at the moment; we will limit ourselves to saying

that they probably have to do with the widespread romantic belief that the writer is a carrier of

truths which are not evident to common mortals; and also that these truths can be delivered

exclusively through the painful loneliness of the ivory tower. But if the writer does not change

their views and does not direct their extraordinary sensitivity and their prodigious plume

(feather) towards the scene, then all of those theatre people will have to go on dealing with the

same problem: repertoire.

Even in a society in which the majority of the population does not experience survival problems

on a daily basis and has no difficulties with housing or nourishment, the role of theatre is quite

concrete and can be perceived in terms of waking up the spectators and making them reflect

upon the problems and the situations with which they are confronted in their lives.


56

It is rather difficult to find in the global repertoire many plays which would have a direct

relationship with the problems bothering the spectatorship. It is, of course, clear that from time

to time there is such a fortunate convergence between the repertoire, on the one hand, and the

current moment, on the other. But such encounters are, nevertheless, quite rare and they

cannot constitute the basis on which theatre should develop.

No theatre has ever found its way simply by copying the already existent models, however good

they may appear to be, or by isolating itself from them in a wish to create something totally

original. Complete originality does not exist. Every artistic creation is inscribed in the existing

currents which it both nourishes and on the basis of which it exists.

The examples coming from Central America are abundant. The theatrical experiments

attempting to take up the indigenous traditions as if the “conquista” had never happened,

however noble their ideals might be, are doomed to become nothing more but academic

exercises unable to find their way to the spectator. On the other hand, those experiments trying

to transplant the models coming from other places also cannot count on a very promising

destiny, given that they tend to be restricted to those spectators who are familiar with such

models and their values.

Many people who occupied themselves with theatre in El Salvador during the 1970s thought

that the solution would be to express their ideas directly on the stage. The idea of the play was

crucial and very little importance was given either to the character embodying it or expressing it

or to the form through which it was represented. The result of such experiments was that the

same spectators who already shared the ideas of the play were happy to see them come into

being on the stage. Such kind of theatre does not make the spectators evolve because it offers

them answers instead of stimulating them to ask questions.

Therefore, it seems that the key question is the following: what kind of plays should theatre

offer to the audience with such a scarce access to this type of artistic manifestation? Many

intellectuals would certainly reply that it has to be a theatre which creates awareness

(conscience) and which shows at least a segment of what is going on in the society to which the

spectators belong. It should, of course, be like that. But what does this really mean?


57

Shakespeare, the greatest playwright of all times, taught us that the play in itself, its text, is

essential. He showed that without a text, any kind of scenic performance always ends up being

rather poor. But Shakespeare also warned us that theatre is, above all, a festivity and a place

where people come together. Without this joy of communication, theatre can be only sterile.

Thus, what is the future of theatre in El Salvador? Without its own writers, I am sure that it

cannot be much more than a reflection of what is going on around the world. But if the writers

ventured into the masses, they would see that many actors, directors and other theatre people

have already prepared a very fertile ground which only writers can shape.

If they decide to do so, it might not be that long before the lady of San Sebastián and thousands

of other spectators like her could laugh and cry together with characters who do not only share

their concerns, but who also speak their language.


58

Roberto Armijo

1842-1987: On Francisco Diaz all the way up to the turbulent 80s

Theatre history of El Salvador does not offer such a variety and multiplicity of developmental

threads that we encounter in other Latin American countries with much more solidly established

theatre traditions, such as Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Uruguay, Chile, Venezuela or

Brazil. Various political circumstances have narrowed the space which, at certain moments in

the development of El Salvadorian scene, allowed for a discreet increase in a number of plays

expressing the concerns of a very restricted circle of writers whom we can consider belonging to

or being precursors, followers or pioneers of Central American theatre. This can be accounted

for by the fragility of the democratic system in our countries as well as for a very scarce or

almost non-existent interest of our ruling classes in stimulating works of art that require an

audience sensitive enough to appreciate and sustain theatre production. In those rare instances

of the awakening of theatre in Central American countries, it is always possible to find a range of

changes in the socio-political context or, at least, an interregnum of progressive governments

which tried, in one way or the other, to open up some minimal possibilities for a type of artistic

expression requiring an audience that it cannot obtain under authoritarian or dictatorial regimes

which Central America has experienced since the time of its political emancipation.

In the case of El Salvador, as our patriarch Francisco Gavidia rightly emphasized, the history of

theatre begins with Francisco Díaz, the author of the tragedy Francisco Morazán. Our admirable

writer gave an exact account of a whole range of different instances in which, before the

appearance of Francisco Díaz, spontaneous theatre shoots (buds) developed in popular

neighbourhoods and rural zones. These instances undoubtedly constitute a manifestation of

pre-Hispanic and mestizo9 traditions and, as such, they can also serve as a nice material for the

study of our popular and religious practices. Nevertheless, it is important to underline that

Gavidia considers the tragedy Francisco Morazán as an original attempt to produce a play

inspired by the hero who marked the history of Central America and who was personally known

by the author. As a matter of fact, Díaz was a soldier in Morazán’s army as well as a high official

in his progressive and revolutionary government. It is only with this in mind that we can

9 Mestizo (Spanish) Cross-breeding between white and Indian people, BB


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understand Gavidia’s later idea to write his play Júpiter, finding his inspiration in the key

protagonists of the Central American emancipatory struggles. This play of Gavidia can be

regarded as a sparkle of genius, primarily because it questioned the official versions of history

and made the revolutionary celebrities look like beings made of flesh and blood. This

preoccupation of Francisco Gavidia became the focal point of his playwriting. In his play Ursiño,

el Partideño he further deepens this idea, making it reverberate with the echoes of the

collective unconscious and finding his inspiration in the biography of Partideño, a famous bandit

who fought against the Spanish authorities all over Central America.

The tragedy Francisco Morazán was written during an epoch in which the only valuable

antecedent in Central American theatre was Güegüense o macho ratón. An El Salvadorian poet,

without much experience with theatre boards and led exclusively by his love for the betrayed

hero, wrote his play trusting only his instinct. There are passages whose tension and radiance

are admirable, but, all in all, the composition is too weak inevitably causing the whole

performance to suffer. What is, nevertheless, immortal is the need to find inspiration among

that multitude of personalities who played an important role in the turbulent history of Central

America of that time. And, what is more, it is a challenge to make a glimpse into the soul and

sensitivity of the participants in these memorable events. This play, with its organization and

vision, can maybe make us think of one of the Cervantes’s antecedents, but the tone and the

arrangement of the verses as well as its abundant romanticism slow down the pace of the

action, while long tirades weaken the general structure of the play.

Let us look at what Francisco Gavidia says about the author of this tragedy: “Francisco Díaz, in

terms of his interest in history, is to be preferred to Marure”. And he goes on: “The writer who

in a village like Quelepa, in the region of San Miguel, made us recognize the 1842 tragedy –

namely, the death of Morazán, which is for Central America one of its most solemn catastrophes

as well as one of the most glorious proclamations of its unity; this writer, whose works take into

account the whole consciousness of the Indian people, obscures the name of Francisco Morazán

and he has a grandeur which no other writer of that time can present to our admiration”. He

then continues: “Francisco Díaz is for Pepe Batros exactly what Juárroz is for Marure. The latter

ones are better educated; but in the former ones, one can feel the word of the homeland. The


60

latter ones are importers, but the former ones are examples of the original national production;

maybe we do not admire them as much as we love them”.

For us, the author of Francisco Morazán is a figure that inspires sympathy and understanding,

particularly given the originality with which his plays appeared in an epoch characterized by

political circumstances that were suffocating patriotic writing and, above all, taking into account

the reduced space for writing books in an atmosphere in which El Salvador and other Central

American countries were plunged into fratricidal wars waged by oligarchic groups opposed to

the liberal reforms propounded by the leader of Honduras. The most talented writers and poets

were, of course, themselves engulfed in these events and they did not have at their disposal

enough time or support, experience or education, to lay the foundations for the appearance of

playwrights of exceptional abilities. It is also pertinent to point out here that the societies of El

Salvador or other Central American countries were not sufficiently mature to allow for the

flourishing of a theatre which would reflect the major characteristics and the principal emotions

of the epoch.

The outstanding figure of Francisco Gavidia

Francisco Gavidia (1863-1955) represents a gigantesque figure in the history of El Salvadorian

literature. His oeuvre touches upon the most diverse literary forms. It has to be emphasised

here that no one before him explored the potential of literary expression with such ease and

skilfulness. He is well-known as an admirable poet, as an essayist of original judgment, as an

extremely interesting narrator, as a brilliant historian, and finally, as a playwright of

extraordinary talent. His vast education as well as his sensibility and the clarity of mind become

obvious when we apply ourselves to studying his books which cover a very long period of time,

starting with the epoch of Modernism to his later more mature works in which we can discern

his project for creating something that would serve as a recognizable feature of the national

literature. We would like to insist on this constant in his work which extols the importance of

the both El Salvadorian and Central American heritage and which can only be rivalled by the

extraordinary revolution performed in lyrical poetry by Rubén Darío.

He was a writer of humanistic education, very well familiar with both ancient and modern

literature and particularly well-educated for his time. He was a translator and he was very well


61

acquainted with the Greek, Latin, French, English and German playwrights as well as a great

admirer of the playwrights of the Golden Century (Siglo de Oro). This rich intellectual equipment

came to prominence in his plays Júpiter (Jupiter), Lucia Lasso o los piratas (Lucia Lasso or the

pirates), La princesa Cavek (The Princess Cavek), Ursiño, el Partideño (Partideño)¸ Amor e Interés

(Love and Interest), and particularly in Cuentos de marinos (Sailors’ stories), Velásquez

(Velasquez), Ramona (Ramona), and Torre de marfil (The ivory tower). In all of these literature

works one can clearly recognize Gavidia’s interest in creating theatre which is inspired by the

successes and other famous events of our history. The indisputable bravery of the (Central)

American people is visible in the efforts with which the writer attends to his constant concern to

produce art that is nourished by the elements of our pre-Hispanic past and all the other

historical periods, such as those colonial, both prior to and after the independence, as well as

those modern and contemporary ones.

Even such an artistic vision, which, by the way, required colossal efforts, was not well received

among the writers and critics of his age. Closed within their provincial criteria, they were not

able to appreciate the aesthetic intentions guiding the poet of the Sooter. How could one

expect, then, that the art of playwriting could have flourished in a climate that did not leave any

space for the development of this artistic current which was constantly lacking its audience? The

small number of those who understood Francisco Gavidia’s intentions did not share his passion

for theatre, whereas those few who wrote theatre plays were lacking the right education and

the breadth of general culture for following the way of the author of Ursino, paved with his

brilliance and sensitivity in some of the most important works of the epoch. The influence of the

Spanish theatre with its romantic echoes could be felt in the works of some of his followers who

were struggling to publish and see their plays on stage. However, such writings were lacking

either solidity or structure required by the age in which they were produced. Everything was

fine with the topics as such, but they were simply poorly realized. It is, of course,

understandable that there was a general lack of knowledge pertaining to diverse dramaturgical

techniques or the way in which they should be executed. In other places, a change started

occurring within the scenic language which distanced it ever further away from its romantic

patterns: Chekhov in Russia, Strindberg in Sweden and, above all, Ibsen, were revolutionising

theatre in an extraordinary way by giving it a vigorous breath of new currents of thought and

sensitivity that characterized their age. Some of these new trends were also taken up by


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Francisco Gavidia, especially in his play The Ivory Tower, where he presents himself as a

vanguard author. Nevertheless, however intellectually powerful and creative an artist may be, it

is absolutely impossible for a single figure to feel and develop an artistic current, which, if it is to

blossom and reach its apex, requires a whole range of incentives and encouragements. There is

no doubt that if Gavidia had been born in Mexico or Argentina, his multifaceted oeuvre would

have found a much more propitious environment that would have known how to praise its

value. It is actually for this reason that Gavidia’s works astonish their readers and make them

think about the enormous efforts that he must have made not to feel suffocated in the El

Salvador of those times, given that the country was immersed in fratricidal wars and plagued by

the most excruciating ignorance.

Bearing this in mind, one has to underline the difference which appears between Gavidia and

other authors writing within the same cultural circle. This master of the art of writing could

protect himself from the omnipresent mediocrity with his talent shaped and refined by an

admirable general culture and with the gift of an extraordinary sensibility that is so evident in

his poems, stories and essays. In other words, his writing style was always highly praised by

Rubén Darío and his knowledge of the language and the skilfulness with which he used it can be

rarely found among other writers of his age.

It is essential to point out that the oeuvre of Gavidia, in all the forms in which his literary genius

found its expression, is characterized by a stable structure of underlying ideas and concepts

leading towards a rich creative harvest. One can easily notice his insistence on knitting together

various threads of this fruitful production which is quite unique in its plan and organization and

which can be followed without difficulties. Different creative stages, marked by an admirable

stylistic force and intelligence, can be effortlessly discerned in his poetry, stories, essays and

plays. The pre-Hispanic epoch is repeatedly remembered in the sense of the sediments that

enrich both the language and the worldview of the Central American people. When it comes to

theatre, the focal point of our interest here, the master gave us a lesson which, unfortunately

enough, was not appropriately appreciated either in El Salvador or, with rare exceptions, in the

rest of Central American countries. However, the master was so aware of this that at one point

he said the following about his works: “These writings, as I have already said in the town hall,

should not be judged by me because if I were, on the one hand, to praise them, that would be


63

immodest, but if I, on the other hand, were to criticize them, that would be hypocritical.

However, they ask for the recognition of one of their qualities that has nothing to do with

literature as such: their qualities to offer images of democracy and our republic. These are by all

means difficult matters because our great predecessors, writing in the classical age, did not,

except in very rare instances, leave behind any models that we could follow, nor did they occupy

themselves with a whole range of problems surrounding the institutions of the people. My play

Ursino, el Partideño gives a lesson about an agreement between different social classes, while

concurrently presenting an image of various social vices; it depicts the days that preceded our

glorious independence. The play Júpiter, which I also entitled Júpiter esclavo (the slave) or

Blanca Celis gives an account of the imperious conditions in which all educational efforts are

supposed to serve the preparation for and support the republic. The Ivory Tower points to all the

weak spots of American democracy, such as the irresponsibility of the authorities to engage the

people in both fratricidal and international wars; the use of natural sciences and their great

achievements for the purposes of these very wars and for the destruction of the human kind

instead of employing them for more venerable aims; but to exhaust this whole matter

pertaining to the faults of democracy is impossible and might be also unnecessary. What is

more, my lyrical comedy entitled Amor e interés (Love and interest), in a suave tone of a

Terence-like comedy, denounces the absurd effect of taking recourse to gang conflicts for

resolving something which, in fact, can be resolved through an intelligent and peaceful exercise

of the right to vote”. For the purposes of the current text, it is quite essential to take into

consideration these reflections that the master made in relation to his literary work. It is easy to

see that Gavidia’s intellectual enthusiasm became evident in his oeuvre, which would, in the

hands of someone without such a superb talent, look like a poor and provincial reiteration of

common places. What is the most beautiful, however, is the creative force that propels his work,

an aura created by a combination of miracle and mystery. Historical topics become noble under

his creative tools and they are transformed into a spiritual force which carries the idiosyncratic

character of the people with a picturesque touch of its various fragrances and essences. The

poet in him turns so many themes and objectives into reveries; it is for all these reasons that his

literary oeuvre now appears to us classical and fundamental for the understanding of and

penetration into the collective soul of our people, for an appreciation of that particular

sentiment which resides in the American psyche, so forceful and substantial in its sensitivity.

Allow me, then, please, to stay for a moment close to these profundities of the translucent


64

waters and solar movements. Only in such a way can one find the right place for the immortal

qualities of this unique man, who has been forgotten due to negligence and his unfortunate

destiny to be born in the region which, while giving Rubén Darío and a range of other great

poets after him, has continued to be ignorant and unknown.

After having given our story a somewhat personal and evocative accent of love, nourished by

the indisputable value of this superb work, let us now briefly synthesise some of the

prototypical features of Gavidia’s work. His writings on pre-Hispanic topics reveal the following:

1. There is a necessity to write about a period considered fundamental for the desired vision of

the national culture 2. He attempts to relate and intertwine the indigenous and European

traditions; his play La princesa Citalá (Princess Citalá) is a sacramental10 written with the

sensitivity of an Indian 3. The passionate and magical tone characterised by the symbolical flair

of myths. His compositions emphasize the colonial world envisioned as a tapestry of entangled

and conflictual emotions and races in which the author reveals his love for its Creole features.

The echoes of the indigenous, Creole, black or mestizo worlds mixing themselves with the

Spanish culture are abundant in his play Lucia Lasso o los piratas. This play remains for me a

work of indisputable vanguard force. Some people considered it impossible to put it on stage

and there are still critics who believe in this peculiar idea.

When it comes to the period closer to the moment of political emancipation, the master was

mostly finding his inspiration in the venerable tradition of classical playwriting characterized by

the Spanish genius to which he applied a dramatic element of the topics stemming from the

collective unconscious; he knows how to benefit from el banditismo11, that social phenomenon

entrenched in the oppressed Central American masses. Ursino is a Brechtian piece which

reverberates with Fuenteovejuna by Lope de Vega as well as with El Alcade de Zalamea by

Calderón de la Barca. This line of interest will remain alive and constant in the literary

production of our poet. We see it particularly clearly in The Ivory Tower, where the author, with

a lot of both equilibrium and force, deals with the ideas that he considered important for the

foundations of our theatre.

10 Auto sacramental (Sp) – a sacramental, theater piece with Christian motives, BB

11 Bandito (Sp) – gangster


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Gavidia’s contemporaries

We will now turn our attention to the writers who were Francisco Gavidia’s contemporaries and

who were, from time to time, tempted to experiment with the art of playwriting and who,

although overshadowed by Gavidia, wanted to make their voices heard. The most important

one among these is Francisco E. Galindo (1850-1856), the author of Las dos flores o Rosa María

(Two flowers or Rosa Maria), a comedy with three acts. Juan Ramón Uriate, an agile critic, claims

that Francisco Gavidia and Francisco E. Galindo are the founders of our national theatre. It is

interesting, following also the writings of Luis Gallegos Valdés, to note that during the 19th

century, El Salvador was visited by a number of theatre companies, predominantly coming from

Spain. Lola o flor de un día (Lola or the one-day flower), written by Francisco Camprodón, is a

play characterized by an exaggerated romanticism, by a lot of verbiage and pure nonsense and it

was among the most popular pieces for out spectators in the second half of the 19th century.

And our Arturo Ambrogi remarks with his sharp style: “There was a play written by Pascal

Palacios Martínez known as El licenciado Vidriera (Lawyer Vidriera). It was Tamayo and Baus of

those times. His lines (My God, those were the lines!) brought our grandparents to tears”. I have

taken the liberty of citing here our critic Gallegos Valdés as well as our great writer Arturo

Ambrogi to give to the epoch in question a touch that goes beyond the stereotypical notions

within which it tends to be understood. Only in such a fashion can one, albeit only to a certain

extent, appreciate that obscure mediocrity which stifled the enthusiasm of many talented

writers. A notable figure among the officials of that time was the priest Juan de Dios Sandoval

who wrote La Puerta del Abismo (The door of the abyss), a three-act play in verses. Our Vicente

Acosta said about him: “He was an orator with a picturesque word and his style was pompous

and florid”.

Possibly the only writer who managed to escape the omnipresent forces of mediocrity,

regardless of the slackness of form and an overly heavy romanticist ballast which accompanied

his vigour for playwriting, was J. Emilio Aragón (1887-1938). His drama Los contrabandistas (The

smugglers) is interesting. Our Francisco Gavidia wrote: “The play Los contrabandistas is

characterized by a topic of national importance and its performance does not pose many

difficulties of technical nature. The author’s versification is unhampered and sonorous and his

moral sentiments are high. This play, especially when read by the author himself – a great


66

reader who has mastered the art of declamation – enchants us, and it sometimes even

astonishes us or moves us.” Luis Gallegos Valdés, referring to the play Los contrabandistas,

wrote: “It was performed with a lot of success by the Adams theatre company, at the

Variedades Theater in this city on 2 May 1911. The character of Leonor was played by Mrs

Evangelina Adams, who is a famous Cuban actress and a mother-in-law of our late friend, Mr

Gerardo de Nieva, the founder of the first theatre school in El Salvador. We want to remember

him bearing in mind his noble gestures and his infinite kindness. The real origin of this drama –

continues Luis Gallegos Valdés – becomes obvious especially towards its end, when the old

Leonardo expresses his sorrow through a long and eloquent tirade in eight-syllable verses.

What is more, it is also worth mentioning José Llerena (1895-1943). There is a realist touch in

Llerena’s writings. A rather dark flavour characterizes the dialogues of his oeuvre. One easily

notices his carelessness for form as well as his lack of knowledge of dramaturgical techniques

which are apparent in the poor architecture of his plays. A specifically modern sentiment in his

critiques of various prejudices and relicts of the traditional society testifies to his numerous links

with the critical realism which appeared as an important intellectual and artistic stance of the

epoch. Among other writers that should be mentioned in terms of their occasional excursions

into the art of playwriting are José María Peralta Lagos and Alberto Rivas Bonilla. José María

Peralta Lagos (1873-1944) stands out as one of the most brilliant writers of El Salvador. His

writing style was concise and lapidary and he wrote a satirical comedy El candidato (The

candidate). Alberto Rival Bonilla was an admirable poet and writer and he was particularly

assiduous in the realm of playwriting. He bequeathed to us a couple of comedies which nicely

express his talent for creating humorous situations and using the language with a rare aplomb.

He wrote Cecilia en vacaciones (Cecilia on vacation), Una muchacha moderna (A modern girl),

Alma de mujer (Woman’s soul) and a comedy Los millones de Cucú (The millions of Cucú). That

spicy ironic trembling and keen sensibility revealed through his very elegant language will

certainly save from oblivion the occasional literary visits that Rivas Bonilla paid to theatre

boards.

Moreover, who else deserves to be mentioned here as a valuable playwright? Luis Gallegos

Valdés would certainly point to Ernesto Arrieta Yúdice, who, it seems, was encouraged by Mr

Gerardo de Nieva who was the director of the first National School of Scenic Arts. When it


67

comes to the origins of El Salvadorian theatre, he would also mention Suárez Fiallos, an author

who, like Arrieta Yúdice, was practically brought to theatre by Gerardo de Nieva. It is a simple

and necessary truth that there was a cultural desert in El Salvador at that time and that the plays

like La dulce paz del villorio (The sweet peace of a hole) and El Padre Eusebio (Father Eusebio),

written by Arrieta Yúdice as well as El monstruo de las garras color de cielo (Monster with sky-

coloured claws) written by Suárez Fiallos, are interesting examples of the mediocrity that was

ruling in the country’s literary circles.

For the sake of truth and sincerity and for the strength of their sentiments and accusations of

colonialism, maybe one could even mention two comedies written by Pedro F. Quiteño (1899-

1962), namely Toribión and También los indios tienen razón (The Indians are right as well). The

country was groaning under the harsh and terrible dictatorship and the people were slowly

starting to recover from the 1932 dreadful tragedy in which many villagers were killed. There

was no talent strong enough to turn the horrible experiences of the years under the regime of

the general Maximiliano Hernández Martínez into a theatre play. El Salvador was living as if the

whole country were imprisoned as a hostage of shameless and medieval despotism. The

omnipresent shadow of the dictator was spreading fear, human rights were denied and those

few responsible people were victims of persecution, prison, exile or death. El Salvador was

subjected to the most hideous oppression, but while slowly healing its wounds and relying on its

stoicism, it was looking forward to welcoming its better days.

Re-emergence of theatre

The years of the Hernández Martínez regime were characterized by ignorance, persecutions and

fear. Artistic manifestations were scarce and, except for the great literary figures of that time,

magazines and journals abandoned the old modernist and postmodernist tradition of leaving a

little bit of space for chronicles and poems. Any attempt to enjoy some creative liberty was

promptly controlled and suppressed. Such people as Salarrué, Gavidia, Masferrer, Peralta Lagos

and Rivas Bonilla were either silent or they had to emigrate looking for environments which

would more adequately allow them to come to terms with and recover from the 1932 massacre.

That medieval night enfolded millions of people.


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The fall of the authoritarian and absolutist regime of Martínez brought to power some

fragments of the former aristocracy and intellectual middle class; this new impulse swiftly

undertook a filtration of the financial flows which were supporting and encouraging the criteria

and habits engendered by the despotic regime. In such unstable political circumstance, theatre

was always an obscure manifestation that hardly ever matured beyond its embryonic form. It is

only from 1950 that new winds started to blow which, like never before, stimulated the re-

emergence of El Salvadorian theatre. There were for the first time playwrights that

systematically endeavoured to produce theatre art which took into consideration the best

contemporary artistic currents and, by doing so, they managed to divert from the well-trodden

paths of the traditional theatre. Instead of relying on the traditional predecessors, they tried to

enlarge the focus and the vision of a sensitivity which connected our literature with the

contemporary traditions of the most advanced theatres of the world.

El Salvador was experiencing a beneficial awakening of its best creative energies in all spheres of

life. In the economic realm, there were new progressive forces stimulating country’s

development and arguing in favour of modernization of the decrepit structures of traditional

society. The cities were going through a period of relative prosperity and there was also a

somewhat delayed reflexion pertaining to the rural life, as a result of which many villagers

started leaving for the capital and bigger urban centres in which factories were mushrooming.

The institutions of the state were also undergoing substantive changes and one could notice an

interest in those ideologues that, in alliance with the oligarchy, represented the preoccupations

and aspirations of the middle-class groups and fragile bourgeois fragments. The university

welcomed a new generation of young people eager to enjoy their freedom. Various magazines,

cultural organizations and journals all found much more propitious conditions for their work and

development. What is more, writers, journalists, artists and poets benefited from the fruitful

climate that existed in El Salvador in those years. This situation, however, radically changed

when the economic crisis of the 1950s struck the agricultural system of the country and

encouraged the ruling classes to once again take recourse to the old methods of military

oppression and political persecution. Nevertheless, the interregnum was exceptionally positive

and it allowed for the re-emergence of a brilliant generation of writers and poets among whom

there were a couple of those dedicated to the art of playwriting. There is no doubt that this

group of playwrights was capable of producing a lot of creative work in the theatre sphere. A


69

large number of them travelled and had an opportunity to familiarise themselves with theatres

in other countries of the world. They were also sufficiently educated and serious to benefit from

the artistic influences that could be found in the works of art produced in those years.

Flourishing during the 1950s

The European scene with Adamov and Beckett, to a certain extent, influenced some El

Salvadorian playwrights. The complex reality of the country required a flexible and sensitive

instrument for expressing the conditions of the urban sectors that, given the progress of the

country, were reacting to the echoes and the winds of the epoch. Another current, closer to

realism (why not say – the followers of socialist realism?) was also looking for motives that the

reality was offering on a daily basis. It should, nevertheless, be emphasised that during the

1950s El Salvadorian cultural life went through a flourishing stage in which its theatre

production played an important role.

During this epoch and thanks to the summit reached by the literary centres in Argentina and

Mexico, the most significant plays, coming from different European cultures and written in

different languages, were also translated in castellano12 and distributed in El Salvador. In such a

way, we could read Michel de Gehlderode, Strindberg, Brecht, O’Neill, Synge, O’Casey,

Pirandello, Tennessee Williams, Pinter, Osborne and, not to forget, of course, Valle-Inclán and

García Lorca’s La casa de Bernarda Alba (Bernarda Alba’s Home). These readings, which

constituted a lesson for many playwrights, left a mark that stimulated the development of El

Salvadorian theatre which would do away with more traditional artistic currents and which

made an effort to be sufficiently permeable for a range of contemporary topics explored in

theatres around the world. There was an insistence to go beyond the typical topics pertaining to

Creole and native cultures, which was also justified by the general development of the country.

One can better appreciate these trends by putting them in the context of what El Salvador really

was in the wake of the 1932 massacre. During the ensuing military dictatorship, the country

12

Castellano (Sp) – standard version of the Spanish language, stemming from the Spanish province of

Castilla la Vieja, BB


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became almost paralyzed. The immobility of the traditional society was a heavy and rigid burden

on the shoulders of the national culture.

During the decade of the 1950s, simultaneously with the establishment of the General

Directorate for Fine Arts, there appear also departments of literature, plastic arts, music, dance,

theatre as well as a department in charge of publishing. The first director of the Theatre

Department was Darío Cossier, of Argentinean nationality. The second was Mr Edmundo

Barbero. His work was decisive for mobilizing enthusiasm and shaking the theatrical sphere of

the country. His experiences as actor and director, accompanied by his expansive and cordial

character, made the El Salvadorian theatre performances reach their apex. His work was ample,

refined and nuanced. It was based on the knowledge of Spanish plays, like those written by

Lorca, as well as those written by Sartre and Moliere. This kind of taste, which remained

constant during his life, marked his entire national experience and appreciably enriched his

performances. His acting was accompanied by a whole range of critiques, articles and studies all

of which served to better situate his role in the history of the national theatre. Edmundo

Barbero was a person of extraordinary perspicacity and his performance of Gavidia’s Júpiter was

one of the greatest achievements of his life. I still so dearly remember El matrimonio (Marriage)

by Gogol, Los justos (The right ones) by Camus and, above all, El gran teatro del mundo (The big

theatre of the world) by Calderón. All the adventures and events related to both his stay and

work in El Salvador are worth of a whole book. The governments that were coming and going

never left him alone due to his progressive ideas. He was expelled from the country, but he

came back. He established our university theatre and all the way up to his death he remained a

lively personality entrenched with both his head and his heart in the most important passion of

his life: theatre.

After Edmundo Barbero, there were other directors who occasionally came to El Salvador for

very brief visits. There was, for example, a Mexican – Fernando Torres Lapham. He is

remembered as the person who introduced Stanislavski in El Salvador. He also introduced Ugo

Betti and took a group of Fine Arts students to the Pan-American Festival in Mexico.

The fourth director was Salvador Salazar Carrión. His time was, however, very short. The Theatre

Department was run by the El Salvadorian actor Miguel Ortega in the interregnum between


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Barbero’s departure and Torres Lapham’s arrival. Ortega, who was Barbero’s student, became a

very prominent figure in El Salvadorian theatre. The whole theatre scene in the country was

shaped by his extraordinary sensitivity and his talent. Roberto Arturo Menéndez was also active

as an actor during this period.

The fifth director of the Theatre Department was Waldo Chávez Velasco. He spent some time in

Italy and he was very interested in O’Neill and Chekhov. During this period, the cultural

authorities demonstrated very little interest in improving the work of the Theatre Department,

which becomes particularly obvious if one takes into account their failure to nominate as the

director of the Department someone who would have been capable of activating and

channelling the enthusiasm which was growing in the country. They nominated a Spaniard

Alonson de los Ríos whose ephemeral stay may still be remembered because of his performance

of La malquierida (The unloved one) by Benavente. Immediately after de los Ríos, there was an

Italian director Franco Cerrutti who staged El malentendido by Camus. The crisis of the

Department became more serious before the arrival of the El Salvadorian actress Adelina de

Gumero who made an effort to stage a higher number of domestic plays, such as Montó Oropel

by Calderón and Fábrica de sueños (Dream factory) by Waldo Chávez Velasco. She also stage the

play La zorra y las uvas (The fox and the grapes), written by the Brazilian author Guillermo

Figueiredo.

As we said at the very beginning of this text, spiritual and cultural expressions in El Salvador

were always tightly related to the political climate of the country. A relative tranquillity which

allowed for the development of some cultural space during the government of the colonel Oscar

Osorio (1950-1956) unfortunately subsided as a consequence of the economic crisis. A regime

change, led by the colonel José María Lemus, stimulated all kinds of illusions and expectations

for the flourishing of art and culture. During 1957, many ex-patriots, who spent decades out of

the country, returned to El Salvador. Poets and progressive writers, who suffered decades of

persecution and ostracism, founded new literary magazines, eager to incorporate themselves in

the cultural life of the country. The university played a particularly important role, given that it

figured as the centre of the leftist and other ideological currents of contemporary thought. The

State Publishing House run by Ricardo Trigueros de León and the University Publishing House

run by the poet Ítalo López Vallecillos selected books of the national, Central American and Latin


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American authors. The magazines Culture and University became important cultural engines

with their articles and essays written by well-known intellectuals. It is this much more open

context as well as the space created by the University which helped found the University

Theatre and the Institute of Fine Arts which started conferring bachelor degrees.

Béneke, Desleas, Vallecillos

The majority of playwrights, who started writing during the 1950s, also experimented with other

forms of literary expression. Only Walter Béneke and Roberto Arturo Menéndez exclusively

wrote theatre plays.

Walter Béneke became famous with two plays: El paraíso de los imprudentes (The paradise of

the unwise) and Funeral Home. These plays are prototypical in the sense of revealing the

concerns of the author so well familiar with the best dramaturgical traditions of his time. He was

skilfully destroying all the elements of the theatre restricted to realist or Creole topics and he,

instead, experimented with a lot of talent with existentialist issues. In a certain way, one could

discern in his work the difficult situation of El Salvador, especially in the sense of psychological

complexity of the characters. There is no doubt that the oeuvre of Walter Béneke broke new

paths in the El Salvadorian playwriting by employing some of the most advanced and exacting

dramaturgical visions and techniques of the contemporary theatre. Although he never returned

to playwriting, Walter Béneke, as a minister of culture, became an important political figure in

the country and he decisively stimulated creation of theatre troops and publication of plays. I

include him in this text as a sign of justice and appreciation.

Roberto Arturo Menéndez was an actor and playwright who, along with Béneke, in 1958

obtained the first prize for his play La ira del cordero (The anger of a lamb); Béneke got it for his

Funeral Home. He also staged his play when he was the director of the Directorate for Fine Arts

in 1960. He wrote other plays as well: Los desplazados (The displaced), La palma de mi mano

(The palm of my hand) and Prometeo II (Prometheus II).

During this epoch, Álvaro Menén Desleal, Roberto Armijo, José Napoleon Rodríguez Ruiz, José

Roberto Cea and Waldo Chávez Velasco dedicate themselves to theatre. Álvaro Menén Desleal


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was a versatile author, poet and narrator as well as an excellent playwright. He has a vast talent

which is nicely seen in the way in which he follows the most extravagant and capricious paths of

our contemporary theatre. In his Beckett-like Luz negra (Black light) as well as in his pantomimes

El circo y otras farsas (The circus and other farces), he manages, through a richness of images, to

create a chaotic world characterized by a specific dramatic charge, without, however, losing that

playful spirit which fills his dialogues with energy. Menén Desleal has not published many of his

manuscripts dealing with the complexities of the human condition. His play El cielo no es para el

reverndo (The sky is not for the reverend) is inspired by Ursino by Gavidia. This is recreation

which tries to re-problematise that social issue and the old anecdote which the master

employed with extraordinary originality.

Waldo Chávez Velasco was a poet and writer who came to the world of theatre with a lot of

intentions and objectives. He started writing at the same time as Menén Desleal and Béneke. His

European experience contributed appreciably to the direction from which he approached both

national topics and more global issues. He wrote El Ziptín, Fábrica de sueños (The factory of

dreams) as well as El sombrero de otoño (The autumn hat). In his oeuvre one can easily

recognize the influence of Alejandro Casona and Priestly.

Mario Hernández Aguirre, a narrator and essayist, also wrote plays. He wrote Fin de semana

(Weekend) and Sólo el amor abre las puertas (Only love opens doors). Edmundo Barbero

pointed out that in Aguirre’s plays, one could find influences of Alejandro Casona, Leormand and

Thornton Wilder. Mario Hernández Aguirre showed qualities that were adequate for the art of

playwriting. However, he lacked the right amount of enthusiasm and dedication that would have

helped him benefit more from his talent.

Ítalo López Vallecillos, a poet and journalist, like the other members of his generation, also

wrote for theatre and he left behind a couple of plays testifying to his interest in playwriting. His

plays reveal a little bit too much insistence on ideology combined with light and bitterish

scepticism. The overly intellectual character of his plays has to do with too heavy dialogues that

slow down the pace of the action. Nevertheless, in Las manos vencidas (Defeated hands), Ítalo

López Vallecillos manages to create a certain existentialist situation which was prototypical for

the intellectual circles of our country during the 1960s. Edmundo Barbero claimed that in Ítalo

López Vallecillos’s plays, once can feel the influence of Arnold Wesker.


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Immediately after the abovementioned writers, there comes a group of playwrights knows as

the University Literary Circle. One has to emphasize, however, that these writers started their

engagement with scenic art without seriously devoting themselves to theatre. They show, above

all, a lot of enthusiasm and pose for themselves many objectives.

Roberto Armijo writes under the influence of Valle-Inclán and Büchner. His plays are inspired by

the everyday El Salvadorian reality and he tries to reflect upon the irrational elements of the

everyday life fraught with violence and alienation. In his play Jungando a la gallina ciega (Playing

a blind chicken) with a lot of very quick action, he criticizes two features of the contemporary El

Salvadorian life: repression and spying. It is a crude depiction of a Goya-like climate ruling in a

country which is wrapped in secular violence. In Los rapaces (The lads) he touches upon the

topic of genocide and explores the horrible behaviour of those accepting to act as murderers

and torturers. An environment of horror and alienation is created through the nightmarish

images of the protagonists who are simultaneously victims of the breakout of violence and of

their own most profound evil. In some other, for the time being unpublished works, Armijo

deals with topics such as exile, guerrilla, loneliness of the patients in foreign hospitals or he

writes about the artistic and existential concerns of young El Salvadorian writers sprinkled

around foreign countries with their own habits and sensitivities. His drama El principe no debe

morir (The prince must not die) is inspired by “Popol Vuh”.

José Napoleon Rodríguez Ruiz wrote a very valuable piece: Anastasio rey (King Anastasio). This

is a successful realization of a play inspired by one of the most heroic events in the history of

indigenous peasantry in El Salvador: the 1833 insurrection led by Anastasio Aquino. By

employing this literary form, José Napoleon Rodríguez Ruiz attempts to demonstrate the

importance of the history of the country, in terms of its epic episodes, for the creation of a

theatre rooted in popular events. The author used original songs written by an anonymous

composer of those times in order to give more intensity to his work. One can easily recognize

Brecht’s presence in this play.

José Roberto Cea wrote Las escenas cumbres (Top scenes), a play which explores the eternal

problems of the human condition through a lot of symbolism. Cea, who is an excellent poet,

evades the pitfalls of the technique with his penetrating lyrism. It is undoubtedly true that there


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is an influence of Samuel Beckett in his interest in the ways in which absurdity manifests itself in

our everyday practical and mental life.

An uncertain future

In the wake of the “compromised generation” and the University Literary Circle, one can rarely

discern any interest in playwriting. Maybe this has to do with the unfavourable climate created

in the 1970s when the country was yet again pushed into political violence and repression. This

stifled the fragile sphere of freedom and censorship once again became a method for executing

power. This also did away with the previous efforts of the government as well as of other

institutions, like the university. There was no possibility of surviving on the basis of having a

degree from the Institute of Fine Arts, created by Walter Béneke when he was the minister of

culture, nor by working at the University which was supposed to be a promoter of culture. Every

small expression of liberty or imagination was considered suspicious. Nevertheless, the Institute

of Fine Arts and the University Theatre, run by Edmundo Barbero, played a decisive role in

stimulating the development of art in El Salvador. Under its auspices, young actors could create

groups that staged El Salvadorian and foreign plays. Among the works that were staged at that

time, let us mention: Funeral Home, La ira del cordero, Luz negra, Las escenas cumbres,

Anastasio rey, Jugando a la gallina ciega. Among the foreign ones: Marat-Sade, A puerta

cerrada (On the closed door), Historias para ser contadas (Stories to be told), La muerte de un

viajante (Death of a traveller), El avaro (Stingy man), Doña Rosita la soltera (The lonely Mrs

Rosita), El despertar de Ulises (The awakening of Ulysses), La mas fuerte (The strongest), La

cantante calva (Bald singer), La excepción y la regla (The exception and the rule) as well as a rich

repertoire of small pieces and monologues written by young comedians. Among the most

interesting groups that developed between 1970 and 1985 as products of the enthusiasm and

initiatives of the Institute of Fine Arts and the University Theatre, let us mention the following:

Sol del Rio 32, Tecolote, Maíz, ELTU (Free School of the University Theater), Taller de los Vagos,

Teatro Obrero Celestino Castro and TGI (Independent Theatre Group). Roberto Salomón, who

was a director with a lot of talent, founded Actoteatro which played a fundamental role in

maintaining theatre production in spite of repression and violence.


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Starting with the 1980s, with the beginning of the civil war, many artists and actors also became

victims of the fascist regime. Many of them emigrated, like the members of Sol del Rio 32 or

Maíz and they joined or formed other groups in Nicaragua, Mexico, France or Denmark. Roberto

Salomón went to Geneva where he continues to stage performances of both El Salvadorian and

foreign plays. An admirable dedication is the most important characteristic of this passionate

promoter of El Salvadorian theatre. His experiences of being both a director and an actor keep

him constantly loyal to his art in spite of the fact that he has been living away from El Salvador

for many years. The group Maíz emigrated and changed its name to Guanaco. They stage plays

which they write themselves and they have travelled extensively around Europe. Bearing this in

mind and taking into account all the difficulties arising from various foreign cultural contexts, we

can still discern some continuity in the development of El Salvadorian theatre.

When it comes to the production strictly restricted to our country, we know that a couple of

young poets like Ricardo Lindo and David Escobar Galindo have recently published some of their

work. I want to mention also Miguel Angel Chinchilla who published Las abejas (The bees), a

play with a very simple fable-like structure. David Escobar Galindo wrote El caballo en la sombra

(A horse in the shadow) as well as Las hogueras de Itaca (The blaze of Ithaca) which has

passages of noteworthy beauty. Ricardo Lindo wrote his play Drácula.

It is clear that in the climate of unrestrained violence in which the population of El Salvador

currently lives, artistic and cultural manifestations cannot normally develop, which leads to a

general spiritual impoverishment that one will only really feel once the country has resolved its

political and social issues. The efforts will, nevertheless, continue and the current regime, which

devotedly participates in the projects proposed by the Reagan administration, allows theatrical

festivals in which we tend to perform those El Salvadorian plays that critically approach our

political system and everyday life. For example, the 1987 Youth Theatre Festival showed plays

like Jugando a la gallina ciega and Las escenas cumbres written by authors known for their

leftist orientation.

The future of El Salvadorian theatre is uncertain. The country is practically in shatters. The

destruction of the El Salvadorian family has been profound. The conflict continues and the

solutions, for the time being, appear confusing and difficult. In such a context, energies tend to

go in other directions that are considered more important. Art becomes an activity of secondary


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value. It is, nevertheless, interesting to note that even in such an impoverished climate in which

people of this country currently live, there are theatrical expressions and manifestations taking

place around the country, including the war-torn areas as well as those controlled by the FMLN.

Similarly, we have to emphasize that there are also groups working in exile as well as

playwrights who, although living outside El Salvador, have always felt the urgency to write plays

related to the tragic reality of our country. Their topics are numerous and profoundly human.

The bloody history of this small Central American nation is full of exceptionally interesting

issues, such as an assassination of an archbishop or a mysterious suicide of a legendary

revolution leader. We know about many heroic acts of the people that had to leave their homes

and move to either another part of the country or go abroad to Mexico or the United States. The

time will come when peace and tranquillity will allow us to gather all these different threads

into artistic expressions which will know how to appreciate the history of these people so

unique in their heroism and in their love for justice and liberty.


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Popular theatre manifestations

José Roberto Cea

In spite of the innumerable difficulties faced by El Salvadorian theatre, such as a lack of tradition

which exists in those countries that support theatre production, there has been, nonetheless, all

the way from the pre-Hispanic epoch a certain kind of theatrical activity on what is nowadays

known as the El Salvadorian territory. It is true that we do not have such texts as Rabinal Achi

written in Guatemala or Güegüense o macho ratón written in Nicaragua, but there are still

remnants of a certain theatrical engagement which, during the pre-Hispanic times, also shaped

our national identity. René García Mejía said: “it is natural that the constant invasions on the

Pipil, Toltecha, Choluteca and other peoples, which took place between the 7th and the 12th

century A.D., stimulated the development of acts that combined dancing and drama. This

practice was, then, taken up by other indigenous tribes which had their own expressive forms,

although the structure and the topics remained largely the same”. Such inter-relations existed

during the colonial times, the period of the constitution of the republics and, as we will see, all

the way to the present day.

One of the particular features of El Salvadorian theatre is the phenomenon known as los

historiantes which present the Historas of moros y cristinos (Moorish and Christian stories) as

well as Pastorelas and other dance-plays with pre-Hispanic reminiscences. These manifestations,

which are, by the way, quite popular, stem from the theatre of cults and can be traced back to

the colonial times. They can still be seen in some local festivities around the country, where they

are usually combined with pre-Hispanic elements.

Such plays usually do not have only one topic. Although their interests vary, they are mostly

devoted to the wars between Granada and Castilla. At other points, they have to do with the

conquering of Mexico by the Spanish or with the heroic deeds of Charlemagne, the Crusades,

the Moctezuma battle, Carlos V of Spain, Saint Bartholomew etc. The stories about the wars

between the Spanish and the Moors were very often brought to El Salvador with the aim of

“Christianising” the local population once it had been subjected to military power.


79

On the basis of some of their stylistic features, it is believed that these plays were written by the

priests who were in charge of indoctrinating the local populations, or, in other words, by those

who occupied themselves with the process of “transculturation” of the indigenous communities.

One of these priests, Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg left a testimony about this: “When

the conversion of the indigenous people started, the missionaries sent by Spain immediately

noticed the idolatric character of these performances (he is referring to the indigenous

theatrical activities) as well as of the deep roots that they had in the habits and rituals of the

people. It was considered impractical to drastically repress them; any attempt which would go in

this direction would have not only been futile, but it would have also caused unrest in the

country. It was, therefore, believed that favourable results would be obtained by ‘counter-

balancing’ those pagan representations with the Christian ones”. The result for us was the

testimony of that epoch: the very beginning of mestizaje13. We say it in this way because this

situation was subsequently used by the same people and when the struggles for independence

were already quite advanced, there appeared a dance-play called Los chapetones which made

fun of the fashion in which the Creole models were adapted to the indigenous environment.

This led to the creation of characters that were alluding to a whole range of problems related to

the Conquista and colonization. We know that the fights between the Moors and the Christians

took place a couple of centuries before our America was “discovered”. The arrangement of

characters is almost always very arbitrary and it very often lacks a sound historical basis.

At the disposal of a person in charge of creating los historiantes, that is to say, actors in the

performances on the Moors and the Christians, there were a couple of standard plots which

were usually manually copied. Among the documents that have survived in their entirety, we

have: El gran Taborlán de Persia, Historia de Carlos V y el renegade Corinto, Los doce pares de

Francia, El Tumen o los caciques, El Famoso Toledo y Alonso, Historia de la Conquista and La

historia del famoso Partideño. The last one has elements of both the colonial stage of this kind

of stories as well as of the independence struggles; it also shows that the developments in the

sphere of theatre were always a reflection of the broader societal conditions. Francisco Gavidia,

an absolutely inescapable author in the history of our theatre, wrote a play about Partideño

which he entitled Ursino. The only one of these plays whose author is known is El famoso Toledo

13 Cross-breeding between the indigenous people and the colonizers


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y Alonso written by Jesús S. Cisneros. This text was found in 1958, in the small town of

Panchimalco, populated by the indigenous people of the region of San Salvador. We, however,

traditionally consider that this is not the name of the original author, but one those who

(manually) copied the work. The anachronisms of these theatrical discourses are well-known.

For example, our famous and popular ‘bandit’ Partideño appears as a Moorish king, something

that also happens to the Azteca emperors and their followers.

In all of these stories on the Moors and the Christian, there are comical passages. Those are

incorporated in the works to make them a bit lighter. The features of the characters are evident:

they usually use masks painted with intense colours. Some of them also have small mirrors so

that when they are illuminated by the Sun they resemble miners’ helmets; some others,

decorated with ancient money called “macuquinas” are worn as big necklaces or belts. In some

places they use Spanish swords, known as toledanas; there where this type of arms does not

exist, people use knifes known as corvos. These arms are used to simulate the effect of fighting

during the dance as well as to mark the beginning of the action leading to the point at which the

king of every group takes his turn and initiates his own talk.

Besides wearing masks, the actors are also adorned. The dresses of the two gangs are different,

but always very attractive. In those plays in which there is a woman, who is always a princess or

Maliche, both she and the king have a parasol/sunshade which hierarchically distinguishes them

from the rest of the play characters. In some performances, comical characters do not wear

shoes, but caite, a sort of leather sandals.

This is, in the most general terms, how the stories about the Moors and the Christians are

presented in religious festivities in many villages around the country. This is a quite popular

activity, usually accompanied by music produced by drums, tun (a smaller type of drums), horns

or flute. All of these instruments create a sad and slow rhythm which is kept until the end of the

play. Music is interrupted only when characters talk. We have to note, however, that it is quite

difficult to stage such performances in certain villages, because there are no people willing to

play the Moors: they already know that the Moors will find themselves on the losing side. In

some other places, performances become rather conflictual, because ‘the Moors’ do not want

to be defeated, especially when the quantities of la chicha, a drink made of fermented corn and


81

rum, become abundant. We should not lose from our sight that those Moors and Christians fight

for the positions of power and for landownership. We should not forget that one of El Salvador’s

critical points has to do precisely with landownership as well as with the usurpation of political

power by those societal elements that are not sufficiently represented and other elements that

can cause popular discontent.

Manifestations with pre-Hispanic reminiscences

There are also dance-plays with clear pre-Hispanic reminiscences. One of the most widely

performed is El tigre y el venado (The tiger and the stag) which is in some villages known as

simply Bailo del venado (The stag dance). These differences do not pertain solely to the name

and the topic, but also to the way in which actors are dressed – in some parts of the country

they are more expressive. Although we have quite a small territory – twenty-one thousand

square meters – there are appreciable differences in terms of costumes. We should always keep

in mind that these performances are popular, that is to say that they are done by members of a

community who are almost always residents of poor neighbourhoods coming together in the

spirit of brotherhood to take part in such events which have recently started to be exploited also

for touristic purposes. One could say that this manifestation has essentially survived due to its

roots as well as due to its attachment to the societal elements that we can call marginal, but

which have, nevertheless, developed into an important oral culture.

El tigre y el venado usually develops in three acts. There are special clothes for each character:

the tiger has a mask and a tiger costume, whereas the stag is also wearing a mask and a stag

costume. The performance begins by the introduction of both characters who symbolically offer

their acting to the Holy Mother. The persecution of the stag begins in the second act. Everyone

who is interested in capturing it adopts different positions and moves around narrating their

respective passages. The stag is finally captured in the third act.

Another dance-play is El tunco de monte or Cutján Cuyjamet which has to do with a hunting of a

wild boar that is evading it hunters while dancing. When it is finally captured, there is a

distribution of its meat in a humorous fashion. The characters use this opportunity to make fun

of the audience which can also consist of the local officials; in some places meat distribution is


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done in both Nahuat and Spanish: “Ni gordura ya güichan señor cura. La gordura para el señor

cura (The greasy part goes to the priest)”.

After this they continue in Spanish always alluding to the reality of the moment in which the

performance unfolds. Improvisation is an integral part of this and actors usually use traditional

jokes for making fun of the local authorities who tend to be represented by the mayor or local

military commanders, catholic priests or rich people of the particular village in which the

performance take place. The accompanying music is made by the guitar and a small marimba.

Another type of performances are Pastorelas which are, however, not performed in the same

places as the stories about the Moors and the Christians. They are usually staged on improvised

boards on which there is a portal (door, gate). Boys and girls approach it to give their gifts and as

they do so, they dance. Every character tells his/her story about the problems that he/she

experienced while trying to reach the Belén Portal and offer gifts to the Holy Mother. This

performance played a very important role in the abovementioned “transculturation” process. Its

role, as a matter of fact, was not to substitute, but to affirm the values of the colonizers. One

text of this kind, coming from 1880, has been preserved.

There is also another text related to las pastorelas known as Pastoras indias which we have in

Nahuat and Pipil as well as in Spanish. Las pastorelas are performed in Spanish in different cities

of the country every December. Music accompanying these performances is a syncretic creation

of our America.

In Los Chapetones there is a more sophisticated element. The actors-dancers appear dressed in

tuxedos and wearing shoes. There are twelve gentlemen and two ladies (men disguised as

women). One of the women represents the queen and she wears a nice diadem on her head;

the other one is the queen’s escort carrying a small container supposedly full of chicha that is to

be shared among the dancers. This part of Los Chapetones represents an image with a view of

mocking the Spanish-Creoles whose behaviour is imitated in a satirical manner. There is almost

no talking, only body movements. The participants address each other only by saying

“gentleman” and from time to time, they ask each other “How does this look to you,

gentleman?” The immediate answer is: “It looks good, gentleman”. Music stops while they are


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talking, and then it continues. It is usually created by a small orchestra consisting of the

mandolins and guitars and playing melodies resembling delicate waltzes. The movements of the

actors-dancers are languid or overly ceremonial and, although there is a touch of coarseness,

the audience finds them amusing. So this is not what we have seen above in relation to the

Moors and the Christians, but there are some elements of that as well. Los Chapetones are

usually staged in the indigenous villages of the country in May every year.


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Unforgettable performances

José Roberto Cea

To make the selection of performances presented here, we have used a couple of parameters

based on what we have learned from such an atypical history of theatre development in El

Salvador. As cultural development in general, our national theatre has its ups and downs, also

because, as José María Peralta Largos wrote in March 1922, “it happens quite frequently that

we are visited by theatre groups of not particularly high quality”. Towards the end of the 1920s,

the National School for Scenic Arts was created in an effort to compensate for this problem. The

School was led by Gerardo Nieva, a Spaniard whose name is tightly related to the climax of El

Salvadorian theatre. However, the School started losing its prominence during the economic,

social and political crisis that culminated with the massacre of more than 30 thousands El

Salvadorians in 1932, killed by the regime of the general Maximiliano Hernández Martínez.

During the 1950s, the School of Theatre of Fine Arts was created and it had relatively stable

personnel also producing theatre plays supposed to be performed rather than purely read which

is, by the way, something that tended to happen with the El Salvadorian plays written by that

time. The spectators, critics and theatre historians of this period remember certain

performances for the impact they had on changing the way in which theatre was perceived. Like

when Edmundo Barbero, a Spanish actor and the director of the School, “destroyed the canons

with a bravery that can be understood only by those of us who witnessed the change and who

knew the forces that it was necessary to defeat in order to achieve this goal. He did this by

staging La puerta cerrada (The closed door) by Sartre in front of a group of easily frightened

people and a couple of nice ladies who found it “immoral”. By doing this, he really shook the

environment”. This was written by Hugo Lindo in his text “Theatre literature in El Salvador”

included in his book entitled The inventory. The performance took place at the National Theatre

in 1953.

Another performance which comes from this period and deserves to be remembered is Júpiter

by Francisco Gavidia, the patriarch of El Salvadorian literature.


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During the 1960s, with the foundation of the University Theatre of the University of El Salvador

led by the French director André Moreau, there was a famous performance of King Oedipus by

Sophocles, staged at the National Gymnasium with around 2000 spectators. It was the first time

that the audience did not have to pay tickets (which were, however, normal for all the then

performances of the University Theatre and the Institute of Fine Arts) to see a single theatre

performance costing around 10 thousand dollars.

Another important première was the one of El paraíso de los imprudentes (The paradise of the

unwise) written by Walter Béneke, an El Salvadorian author who, together with Roberto Arturo

Menéndez marked the existentialist period in the development of El Salvadorian theatre and

initiated a new current within this sphere which is still being reinforced today by new authors

and plays. From the same period, one also needs to point to Luz negra (Black light) by Álvaro

Menén Desleal and directed by Edmundo Barbero which was staged 10 times within two years.

The play was performed in the auditorium of the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences in the

University City on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th December 1971.

These and other experiences were the antecedents which in some way were created by the first

generations of students of the National Institute of Fine Arts and its Theatre Department. A

group of this institution officially opened on 13 September 1970 the Third Student Theatre

Festival in the auditorium of the CAESS (The El Salvador Electricity Company) with Marat-Sade

by Peter Weiss which was adapted for Spanish performances by Alfonso Sastre. The director was

Roberto Salomón. The performance was a real spectacle, done with artistic dignity and a lot of

vision of those young people who obtained their Bachelor degrees on that occasion.

We also have to mention Actoteatro, a theatre group that produced interesting plays and had its

own house, which was closed after the beginning of the civil war when Roberto Salomón

decided to emigrate. Before that, however, in December 1975, they performed Federico García

Lorca’s La Casa de Bernarda Alba (Bernarda Alba’s House) at the National School of Dance. This

was an important performance in the sense of bringing together a group of actors coming from

different theatre schools.

Among the performances done after 1975, we have made the following selection:


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Dos viejos pánicos (Two old panics)

Written by Virgilio Piñera. Taller de los Vagos. Directed by Norman Douglas. With Enmanuel Jaén

and Norman Douglas. 1978.

This performance was staged at the Metropolitan Arena of El Salvador which is a place normally

used for boxing matches. According to Douglas, this was the right setting for presenting an old

and long fight of a couple exhausted by their lives and marriage issues. The play had its première

in November, it was on the repertoire for three weekends and it was later performed in other

places.

Criaturas14 (Creatures)

Written by Alberto Adellach. With Fidel Cortez, Leo Argüello and Baltazar López. 1975.

Historias con cárcel (Prison stories)

Written by Oswaldo Dragún. With Saúl Amaya, Fidel Cortez, Leo Argüello and Baltazar López.

1979.

El retablo del flautist (The flautist’s retablo15)

Written by Jordi Teixidor. With Fidel Cortez, Leo Argüello and Baltazar López. 1977.

This performance belongs to the first period of the group Sol del Río 32 and, along with the

other two above, is considered the best among 15 plays staged by these actors who are now

known as the Theatre Sol del Río. Criaturas is a child game for adults: two children imitate adults

and perform various deeds of courage and heroism and at one point they start substituting

game for reality. This particular performance was characterized, among other things, with a very

good acting. The play by Dragún belongs to the social current which was dominant in the El

Salvadorian theatre of that time. This was a new performance of the group Sol del Río in

comparison to the one done in 1974. The play, finally, is a version written by a Catalan author,

which incorporates certain elements of the El Salvadorian reality. The play was part of the

14 Criatura (Sp) figuratively also means infant or baby, BB

15 Retablo (Sp) – a short theatre play or a painting with Biblical motives, BB


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official program of the First International Theatre Festival of El Salvador and it went on to

participate in the Central American Theatre Festival.

La segura mano de Diós (The strong hand of God)

A collective creation inspired by the poetry of Roque Dalton. Sol del Río 32. 1980.

Yet another very important performance of the group. The plot has to do with the general

Maximiliano Hernández Martínez who ruled as a dictator from 1931 to 1944. He ordered the

massacre of more than 30 thousand El Salvadorians in an effort to repress the uprising of

villagers and labourers in 1932. He did this after having captured and assassinated Farabundu

Martí and his co-fighters.

Historia bajo siete soles (History under seven Suns)

A collective creation of the group Bululú. With Dimas Castellón and Mariano Espinoza. 1987.

This is an interesting collective creation which explores the encounter of two cultures, namely

those pre-Hispanic and Spanish which are crucial for our mestizaje. The actors created a

spectacle which contains elements of the stories about the Moors and the Christians and the

historiantes. They also touch upon the pre-Hispanic times, some aspects of the Conquista as well

as the uprising led by Anastasio Aquino in 1833. The performance is based on magical scenes

taking up some of the important events from the country’s turbulent history. This was a good

performance inspired by the concept of “poor theatre” by Jerzy Grotowski.

Las mis y una noches (Thousand and one nights)

Group Hamlet. Gran Teatro Rex. 1987

La que quiera celeste, que se acueste

Group Hamlet. Gran Teatro Rex. Directed by Nelson Portillo. With Antonio Lemus, Irma Elena

Fuentes, Linda Castellanos and Lupita Avilés, among others. 1988.

In 1985 started the so-called season of the Gran Teatro Rex which lasts from January to June

every year and which mostly shows commercial plays. The Group Hamlet manages to attract the


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largest share of interest of all the groups performing during the season. Among their premières

up to this point, we have to emphasise the following: Las mil y una noches which became

particularly prominent in terms of its costumes. La que quiera celeste, que se acueste which is a

comedy inspired by three novels of Agatha Christie and which had a lot of success among the

audience; during the first 18 performances it was seen by 7 416 spectators and at the end of the

season there were another 1 200 who could not see it given that it had been sold out in

advance. This success also has to do with a very well planned public campaign and with the fact

that many famous TV actors took part in it.

Apócrifos (Apocrypha)

Based on the texts by Karel Capek. Teatro Sol del Río. Directed by Fernando Umaña. With Julio

César Alvarenga, Ana María Soto, Saúl Amaya, Fidel Cortes and Roberto Salinas, among others.

1988.

At the beginning of this year, many members of this group came back to the country after

having spent some time in exile. They united their forces with the actors coming from the

national theatre schools to produce a performance based on the texts written by the

Czechoslovak author Karol Capek. They have to do with small stories about a couple of famous

historical figures belonging to the Western Judeo-Christian culture. By working on these short

pieces, the group wanted to point to “the ambivalence and the heterogeneity of the human

condition, the omnipotence of the creator (in the case of the church) or of absolute power (in

the case of the state) as well as to the possibility of human resistance propelled by our free will”.

The performance, containing 14 images, was staged from 13 to 29 May and was completely sold

out. There is no doubt that this was a brilliant work which showed maturity of the group – one

of the most serious and technically rigorous in El Salvador.

Camisa de fuerza (Straightjacket)

Written by Carlos Santos. Directed and interpreted by Walter Dionisio. 1988.

Walter Dionisio is a young El Salvadorian actor studying and working in the United States and

Canada. He returned home this year to stage a monologue written by his compatriot Carlos

Santos dealing with the problems that El Salvadorian emigrants have in the States. This play


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shows what it means to be a humble person in the promised land which, in the end, does not

rise to its widespread image. The performance took place at the Monologue Festival which was

organized at the National Theatre and at the Central American University between March and

May.

Given that student theatre has certain relevance in our country, we would like to emphasise

three student performances. The Festival of Student Theatre took place in 1987, but it was

restricted to the plays written by El Salvadorian authors. This Festival is taking place this year as

well – it is dedicated to the memory of Edmundo Barbero and it brings performances by foreign

authors, among which we would like to highlight the following:

El crack de octubre (October crack)

Creation of the Grupo Secreto a Voces. Directed by Edwin Pastore. With Mayari Alvarado, Sonia

Calderón, Cecibel Pérez and Douglas Escobar, among others. 1986.

Put together by a group of students of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of the

University of El Salvador. This group was born in the wake of the earthquake that struck the

metropolitan zone of El Salvador on 10 October 1986 when the students gathered to help the

victims and came up with the idea to form a group in May 1987. Two months later, they started

preparing their performance El crack de octubre based on the texts and poetry by Gustavo

Pineda and Edwin Pastore. The performance took part in the First El Salvadorian Festival of

Student Theatre where it got the first prize. The performance consists of a series of anecdotes

pertaining to the time immediately before, during and after the earthquake which destroyed a

half of the city of San Salvador as well as other metropolitan areas. The group explores topics

like unemployment, war, and high moral standards of an ordinary El Salvadorian in this turmoil.

The play has a satirical character and it also contains poetry which is supposed to stimulate

contrast and reflexion. The scenes are organized around TV news in a very agile scenic

arrangement. The actors do an excellent job in transmitting the idea of multiple simultaneous

movements and events. Their setting and costumes are minimal and casual. With the work, the

group took part in the Festival of Central American Popular Theatre in San José, Costa Rica.


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Anastasio rey

Written by José Napoleon Rodríguez Ruiz. University Theatre of the University of El Salvador.

Directed by Mario Tenorio. With Carlos Letona, Marta Duran, Judith Alvarenga and Nelson

Baires, among others. 1987.

The play examines the problems faced by El Salvadorian villagers who, in 1833, well after the

independence from Spain, signed on 15 September 1821, experienced unprecedented levels of

injustice. Anastasio Aquino organized an uprising of his Nonualco people against the authorities;

he defeated many national troops and reached the urban zones of the country proclaiming

himself a general of the Liberating Army of Santiago Nonualco. In the church of Pilar de San

Vicente he ousted those who were protecting its treasure, took the crown of San José Obrero

and put it on his head proclaiming himself the king of the Nonualco people. He then also put on

an ecclesiastical gown causing a lot of surprise and fear both among religious people as well as a

lot of joy among his followers. Although he had a range of remarkable military successes, after

which the government fled to Guatemala, he never attacked the capital due to the lack of

reliable information. Aquino was betrayed by his deputy ‘Cascabel’ as well as by the priest

Navarro who did not reveal important pieces of information to him. He was captured, sentenced

and assassinated, after which his head was exhibited as a warning for the rest of the population.

Rodríguez Ruiz takes up some of these elements which, then, Mario Tenorio restructures in his

performance. The play was staged in many provinces before its appearance at the National

Theatre in June this year.

Las escenas cumbres

Written by José Roberto Cea. Grupo Sueños de Vida (Group Life Dreams). Directed by Edgar

Roberto Gustave. With Evelyn M. Bonilla, Augustina Yamira Herrera, Luz de María Solano and

José Enmanuel Cruz among others. 1987.

Ever since it was directed by Edmundo Barbero and staged for the first time at the University

Theatre of the University of El Salvador, the play Las escenas cumbres has been one of the

mostly frequently shown theatre pieces: it is staged by at least two different directors per year

and also quite often by theatre students and groups both those professional and experimental.

The play has to do with the loneliness of people, their existential concerns and problems of


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communication between human beings, particularly during adolescence and youth. It is written

in a poetic language and the author uses a lot of surrealist and absurd theatre elements. What

was new in Gustave’s arrangement was the fact that all the principal characters were played by

women. Sueños de Vida is an independent group made out of students of the Central American

University José Simón Cañas.


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Festival, companies and groups

José Roberto Cea

During the period 1978-1979, the Pro-Cultura board organized various musical festivals and

showed a couple of, mostly Mexican, theatre plays at the cinema President. The majority of

these plays were comedies and the spectators were present primarily because the actors were

already known from a range of commercial telenovelas. When these artists – reports Lemus

Simún – performed a play written by Bernard Shaw, the spectators started leaving the show

halfway thorough it complaining about acoustics, but the truth was that many of them simply

did not understand what the play was all about.

During 1982, the companies Goldtree Liebes and Liebes Exportadora organized the First Cultural

Festival (dance, choir and theatre) which lasted for three consecutive months; there were four

theatre groups at the first festival, but the number increased to seven in the following year.

During 1986 there were no performances due to the earthquake, but they resumed in 1987. The

groups that participated consisted mostly of amateurs or semi-professionals (some of their

performances are known) who could not fill the National Theatre where the Festival was taking

place. This only demonstrated that our country lacks theatre tradition or theatre habits, artists’

discipline and financial resources for carrying out theatre work in spite of the fact that some

participants were affiliated with commercial institutions. Such manifestations also show that in

our country there are almost no incentives for theatre groups or scenic art, more generally.

There are no theatre critics except for two or three who publish something from time to time;

there are no theatre houses, there are simply no opportunities for performances to survive. The

1987 Festival also demonstrated the level of corruption and bureaucracy implicated in the

functioning of the National Theatre.

In 1985, a group of artists who graduated at the Institute of Fine Arts or other national or

international institutions united to, so to say, set up a new season of performances called Gran

Teatro Rex which was supposed to break with the vicious circle in which El Salvadorian theatre

found itself. The participants noted that “a new theatre strategy was initiated at the CAEES

auditorium”. They managed to obtain media support. There was a new strategy that stimulated


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good acting, play production as well as theatre critique. From July 1985 to June 1987 there were

11 plays, 86 weeks, 240 performances and 71 197 spectators.

Although it is true that they have spectators as well as a certain commercial success, everything

seems to be reduced to the economic aspect, given that the situation with the more theatre-

related elements is, if not worse, then equally bad as it used to be: theatre is very similar to

what can be seen on TV or heard on radio. We are not, of course, against this commercial

aspect; we know that economy is crucial, especially for a country like ours. The artists, however,

seem to be insisting on making money, rather than taking into consideration artistic qualities of

their work.

It is true that these actors have found some acclaim among the spectators, but these are people

who would equally applaud the worst creations of cinema with which we seem to be inundated

nowadays. An example of this erroneous theatre vision is the comedy La corrupcion y otras

yerbas (Corruption and other plants). The performance is arranged in a way which does not

benefit from our scenic tradition. In the words of Francisco Andrés Escobar: “The Gran Teatro

Rex Season was praised by some and criticized by others, but it did not, all in all, leave a

laudable heritage. In the first place, the season marked the introduction of the concept of

‘production’, that is, it stimulated certain people to invest capital in the production of services –

the performed plays – and to judge on the basis of business criteria an activity which, up to that

point, was seen as an adventure for the dreamers and a hobby for the unemployed. This kind of

“production”, already very well developed in other places with longer theatre traditions, could

serve as a good point of departure for the professionalization of El Salvadorian theatre: as the

cultural level required for successive productions increases, our actors will also have to improve

their theory and technique if they want to enter the labour market with the right qualifications.

Secondly, the Gran Teatro Rex season also showed, as had been already done by the Goldtree

Festival, the theatre potential that we have in this country. All these excellent actresses and

actors could give much more if they were to seriously immerse themselves in a theoretically and

methodologically informed theatre and work under high quality directors. This leads us to the

third lesson of the season: we lack good directors. The Season showed this very clearly and the

Goldtree Festival prepared the ground for it: El Salvador has a crisis of theatre directors. The

best acting and scenic talent is not sufficient if it is not guided by a good actor (...) another


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lesson of the season has to do with the national dramaturgy. This can only develop within

national reality and in cooperation with theatre companies operating on the national level. Let

us sing our song, said Alfredo Espino, and exactly that should be the point of departure for the

development of a new El Salvadorian theatre movement. The spectators received very well the

following performances: Pajaros sin nido (Birds without a nest), Yo quiero ser diputado (I want to

be an MP) and La corrupción y otras yerbas (Corruption and other plants) because they could

identify with these plays. The same did not happen with Preludio matinal en re mayor (Morning

prelude in re major) or Ninette y un señor de Murcia (Ninette and a gentleman from Murcia).

The audience needs to see its own world and express its own words through theatre plays. This

necessity should be taken into account when developing an authentic El Salvadorian theatre

literature”. Journal Semana, January 1988.

These seasons and festivals have also demonstrated that El Salvadorian people like theatre, that

they like to watch plays and maybe even more so now when there is a cinema crisis caused by a

very low quality of the films that come here. All the above-mentioned festivals pointed both to

the interest in theatre as well as to the talent we have at our disposal which must be saved from

the predominant dilettantism.

The groups that took part in the Gran Teatro Rex Season are the following: Hamlet, Camaleón,

Talia-Oro, Taller Libre de Teatro, Vivencias. They are joined this year by the recently founded

company Púrpura. However, the actors are essentially the same, they just go from one of these

groups to another. Due to this, we have, for example, Nelson Portillo who is leading Hamlet, but

also acting with Camaleón. Camaleón is led by Eugenio Acosta Rodríguez who acts also in

another group; Talia-Oro is led by René Alfonso Lacayo in collaboration with Jorge Alberto

Jiménez and it cooperates with people who have worked in other groups. I want to say that it is

hardly possible to recognize a real group identity there.

Only the following groups are taking part in the 1988 Rex Season: Camaleón with its not so very

good performance La Dolorosa directed by Eugenio Acosta Rodríguez, an old actor with a lot of

experience. Then, there will be Púrpura company and Hamlet.


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When it comes to the First Student Theatre Festival in El Salvador, supported by the local

authorities and coordinated by Miguel Angel Chinchilla, we can say that it was a real success. 33

plays by El Salvadorian authors were presented; of all the participating groups, 9 came to the

finals and 3 to the super-finals which took place at the National Theatre. The first part of the

Festival took place at the Municipal theatre of the Cámara of San Salvador. The finalists were:

the Independent Grope Maya with Cecilia en vacaciones by Alberto Rivas Bonilla; group

Maquilischuat with Fábrica de sueños by Waldo Chávez Velasco; Group El Salvador with Funeral

Home by Walter Béneke; Group Actuación Teatral de Ocidente with Un día primero Dios by

Jorge Ismael Garcia Corleto; Teatro Experimental Contemporáneo with El sargento y el borracho

(A sergeant and a drunkard) by José María Méndez and El hoy de ahora (The today of now) by a

group of authors; Teatro Universitario with Anastasio rey by José Napoleón Rodríguez Ruiz;

group Secreto a Voces joined by the students of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of El

Salvador with El crack de octubre, written by a group of authors; group Sueños de Vida

consisting of former students of the Central American University José Simeón Cañas with Las

escenas cumbres written by José Roberto Cea.

The last three were the finalists and the Group Secreto a Voces won the competition. Francisco

Andres Escobar wrote (Semana, number 7, January 1988): “there is no doubt that this

performance will be successful wherever it appears. It is too El Salvadorian to pass unnoticed by

the people of this country who might even cry while watching it. The deserved victory of the

play El crack de octubre at the First Festival of Student Theatre in El Salvador marks an important

season of performances at the National Theatre, where it could also be improved in terms of its

formal aspects”.

This play explores themes related to our very recent history marked by an earthquake which on

10 October 1986 destroyed more than a half of San Salvador. In this context we see inefficient

and corrupted local officials as well as many different reactions of the people involved,

everything skilfully parodied. This is, all in all, a very successful performance.

An American Mario Peña came with the support of the American Embassy to help found a

National Theatre Company before the closure of the Institute of Scenic Arts. Since the beginning

of 1987, Peña is organizing workshop and seminars on theatre topics.


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Of all the other groups of the epoch, such as Trapiche, Chichicaste, Teatro Experimental

Tecolote, Teatro Experimental Colectivo, Xibalbá, Caminantes as well as those graduating at the

Institute of Scenic Arts, the only one that has survived is Sol del Río 32 whose members left the

country in 1982 and returned in 1988. It was founded in 1973 and was then named Primero al

Uno. This is the group that maintained a certain artistic dignity in the theatre desert of our

country and it did so in spite of maliciousness, mediocrity, stupidity, revenge, slowness of the

municipal authorities – not to use more offensive words here. They have reunited to work on a

couple of performances. Sol del Río 32 has been so active, but their work still has not been

sufficiently appreciated in a country where such efforts often gain only marginal attention.

la balada de a. aquino y los ensayos sobre el teatro salvadoreno

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