Alejandro Casona, Real name Alejandro Rodríguez Álvarez (1903-1965) and also known as The Lonely One, was a Spanish writer, playwright and teacher. His literary work was framed within the Generation of 27, with a poetic type theater product of his life experiences.
Alejandro Casona's work was characterized by being unique and different. He had the ability to create characters from the fictional and psychological; This allowed him to innovate and began to give the audience an artistic style different from the one that already existed in his time..
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Alejandro was born on March 23, 1903, in the town of Besullo, in Asturias, into a family of teachers with limited economic resources. His parents were Gabino Rodríguez Álvarez and Faustina Álvarez García. His early childhood years were spent under the shade of a chestnut tree and between some moves.
Casona lived in her hometown until she was five years old, then, together with her parents, she went to Villaviciosa, a town where she studied primary school. Some time later he moved to Gijón, where he studied high school. Upon completion he studied philosophy and letters at the University of Oviedo.
Within his training there was also an apprenticeship at the Conservatory of Music and Declamation. In 1922 he went to Madrid and began studies at the School of Higher Education for Teaching. In 1926 he became an inspector of primary education.
In 1928 he began to work as a teacher in the Arán Valley, there he took advantage of the opportunity to teach children children's theater, starting the group The pinto bird. That was also the year in which he married an old fellow student named Rosalía Martín Bravo.
The couple went to live in the town of Lés, where Alejandro carried out his profession. At that time he made the adaptation for theater of a play by Oscar Wilde entitled Lord Arthur's crime, which premiered in Zaragoza. It was the first time that his signature as Alejandro Casona appeared in public.
In 1930 Casona experienced the happiness of the birth of her daughter Marta Isabel, who was born in Lés, Lleida province, where they stayed until the following year. In 1931 he moved with his family to Madrid, after having won a position in the Provincial Inspection.
Casona's experience in the Traveling theater He kept him on a tour of Spanish territory between 1932 and 1935, taking theatrical pieces to the most remote places. In addition, his talent led him to write some versioned works such as, for example, Sancho Panza on the island.
Casona's work in literature earned him, in 1932, the National Prize for Literature for the prose text of readings for young people entitled Legends flower. In 1934, for the comedy The stranded mermaid, won the Lope de Vega Award.
When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, Casona remained invariable to the republican government. However, he realized that his future would be cut short because the contest would not be short. But the writer presented some plays in hospitals for the wounded and then decided to go into exile..
Alejandro Casona left Spain in 1937 as a result of the war. In the first instance he arrived in Mexico, then he made several trips through Venezuela, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia and Cuba. Finally, in 1939, he decided to settle in the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires.
During those twenty-five years in exile, Casona produced a good part of his work. The experience of living far from "home" led him to be deeper and more intense. At that time he wrote It is forbidden to commit suicide in spring, The lady of the dawn Y The house with seven balconies, among other works.
Alejandro Casona returned to Spain in 1962, upon arrival he produced different plays. Although the critics and the general public welcomed them, the new generations rejected it as boring and traditional. The theater specialist magazine, First act, was his main judge.
Casona was not overwhelmed, and continued to do what he liked. So, in 1964, he brought to the stage what was his last work: The knight with the golden spurs, Inspired by the playwright Francisco de Quevedo. The writer died the following year, on September 17 in the city of Madrid..
Casona's literary style was based on the use of simple, precise and humorous language. Along with Federico García Lorca, he was one of the innovators of comic theater, and his main intention was to make the audience keep the imagination alive.
Alejandro Casona combined reality with the fantastic, where surprises and tricks were constant. In his staging it was common to see clear and exciting arguments, as well as skillful, in addition to few actors. In general, his works were structured in three acts.
- The stranded mermaid (1934).
- The mystery of María Celeste (1935).
- The devil again (1935).
- The young man who married a brave woman (1935).
- Our Natacha (1935).
- It is forbidden to commit suicide in spring (1937).
- Romance in three nights (1938).
- Unfinished symphony (1940).
- Pinocchio and the infantina Blancaflor (1940).
- The dramatic life of Marie Curie (1940). He wrote it in collaboration with Francisco Madrid.
- The three perfect married (1941).
- The lady of the dawn (1944).
- The boat without a fisherman (1945).
- The Arcos mill (1947).
- Sancho Panza on the island (1947).
- Trees die standing up (1949).
- The key in the loft (1951).
- Shepherds to Bethlehem (1951).
- Seven screams in the sea (1952).
- The third word (1953).
- Crown of love and death (1955).
- The house with seven balconies (1957).
- Letter from a stranger (1957).
- Three diamonds and a woman (1961).
- Love letter from a Portuguese nun (1962).
- The knight with the golden spurs (1962).
It is one of the author's most famous plays. Its content is related to the desire of humanity to live away from the real events. The argument exposes a group of people who depart from the logic of life, to immerse themselves in a world of dreams and fantasies.
It was one of his first works written in exile. It premiered in Mexico on June 12, 1937 at the Arbeu Theater. It tells the story of Dr. Ariel, who lives with the worry of reaching maturity and committing suicide as several members of his family did..
Being affected by the past, Ariel decides to investigate the fatalistic psychology of man and also creates a site to attend to people with suicide attempts. It is the characters Chole and Fernando who, without knowing it, change the attitude of the patients, and they decide to continue living.
This play by Casona premiered in Buenos Aires, at the Avenida Theater on November 3, 1944, and in Spain it took place on April 23, 1962, when the author returned from exile. Its plot was based on the pain of a family after the death of one of its members, Angelica.
Angelica's mother is abandoned after the loss, and her other children and grandfather are desperate not to know what to do. However, at the time a nomad arrives at the house who will turn their lives around. Alejandro Casona set the work in the rural life of Asturias.
This work by Casona premiered on May 29, 1953, in Buenos Aires. It was about the life of Pablo, a young man who lived in the country with his father, apart from his mother, but when she died he received the entire inheritance. When he was orphaned of father, he was under the tutelage of his aunts.
The aunts tried to educate him without good results, until Marga arrived and things changed. The new tutor realized that Pablo was being the victim of theft by his uncle Roldán. From then on, entanglement, blackmail, love and the "third word" change history..
This work by Casona premiered in the city of Buenos Aires on April 12, 1957, while in Spain it was presented in 1989, years after the author's death. The story was set in a rural area in northern Spain, in 1890.
It is the story of Genoveva, a lady who is under the care of her nephew Uriel, after suffering dementia for love. Then the routine of the house is altered when Uriel's father begins a relationship with a woman named Amanda. Love, naivety and hope are present.
- Legends flower (1932).
- Twenty years and one night (1941).
- In old Buenos Aires (1941).
- The little teacher of the workers (1941).
- Concert of souls (1942).
- When the orange tree blooms (1942).
- Ash in the wind (1942).
- Doll's House (1943).
- Our Natacha (1936).
- Maria Celeste (1944).
- The prodigal (1945).
- Le fruit mordu (1945).
- Miracle of love (1946).
- The one who gets the slaps (1947).
- The strange case of the murdered woman (1949).
- The boat without a fisherman (1950).
- Romance in three nights (1950).
- Trees die standing up (1951).
- If I die before I wake up (1951).
- Never open that door (1952).
- An angel without shame (1953).
- Seven screams in the sea (1954).
- The stork said yes! (1955).
- Marie Curie (1940).
- Fenisa's hook (1957). Work of Lope de Vega.
- The Trickster of Seville (1961). Work of Tirso de Molina.
- Peribañez and the Commander of Ocaña (1962). By Lope de Vega.
- La Celestina (1965). Work of Fernando de Rojas.
- The dream of a nigth of summer (1960). Original work of William Shakespeare.
- Richard III (Unknown date). Work of William Shakespeare.
- Fountainovejuna (Unknown date). Original work by Lope de Vega.
- The love of the four colonels (Unknown date). Original work by British writer Peter Ustinov.
- Jovial altarpiece, short pieces written for the traveling theater (1967).
- Farce and justice of the magistrate (1970).
- The cute Don Gato.
- The cat with boots.
- To Bethlehem shepherds!
- Pinocchio and the Infanta Blancaflor.
- The son of Pinocchio.
- Jovial altarpiece.
- The pilgrim with the flowery beard (1920).
- The flute of the toad (1930).
- The devil in literature and art (1926).
- The devil. Its literary value mainly in Spain.
- Life of Francisco Pizarro.
- The women of Lope de Vega, life and theater.
- Complete works of Alejandro Casona (1969).
- Select theater (1973).
- "There is no serious thing that cannot be said with a smile".
- "Better to apply crying whenever possible, as ancient medicine applied bleeding".
- "Novels have never been written by more than those who are incapable of living them".
- “It is not enough to be young. It is necessary to be drunk of youth. With all its consequences ".
- “In true love, nobody rules; both obey ".
- “Cry, yes; but cry standing up, working; it is better to sow a harvest than to cry over what was lost ".
- “If you are happy, hide. You can't walk around a beggar's neighborhood laden with jewels. You cannot walk a happiness like yours through a world of wretches ".
- "To speak little, but badly, it is already a lot to speak".
- "The reason why it is shouted is not stronger".
- "Beauty is the other form of truth".
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