The Butterfly's Evil Spell (play)
Encyclopedia
The Butterfly's Evil Spell (El maleficio de la mariposa) was the first play by the twentieth-century Spanish
dramatist Federico García Lorca
.
A Symbolist
work drawing inspiration from Yeats
and Maeterlinck
, especially the latter's The Blue Bird
(1905), Lorca's play deals with an injured butterfly, temporarily stranded amongst other insects, that flies away despite the cockroach's love for her.
Written at the invitation of the impresario Gregorio Martínez Sierra
, it was first staged at Madrid
's Teatro Eslava on 22 March 1920 with the ballet dancer Encarnación López Júlvez, called "La Argentinita
", as the Butterfly and Catalina Bárcena as the Cockroach. It was not well received by the public and was cancelled after only four performances. Later García Lorca would claim on various occasions that Mariana Pineda
(1927) was his first play.
Several aspects of the style and thematic content of The Butterfly's Evil Spell would become distinguishing features of Lorca's mature drama: the exploration of symbolist stylization and non-naturalism
, the incorporation of different art forms including music and ballet, bold attention to details of staging, and familiar themes such as frustrated love and the imminence of death.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
dramatist Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
.
A Symbolist
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
work drawing inspiration from Yeats
William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
and Maeterlinck
Maurice Maeterlinck
Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck, also called Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. The main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life...
, especially the latter's The Blue Bird
L'Oiseau Bleu
The Blue Bird is a 1908 play by Belgian author Maurice Maeterlinck. It premiered on 30 September 1908 at Constantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre and has been turned into several films and a TV series. The French composer Albert Wolff wrote an opera The Blue Bird is a 1908 play by Belgian...
(1905), Lorca's play deals with an injured butterfly, temporarily stranded amongst other insects, that flies away despite the cockroach's love for her.
Written at the invitation of the impresario Gregorio Martínez Sierra
Gregorio Martínez Sierra
Gregorio Martínez Sierra , Spanish writer, dramatist and theatre director.A key figure in the revival of the Spanish theatrical avant-garde in the early twentieth century, Gregorio Martínez Sierra was one of the few progressive dramatists whose productions achieved any measure of commercial...
, it was first staged at Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
's Teatro Eslava on 22 March 1920 with the ballet dancer Encarnación López Júlvez, called "La Argentinita
La Argentinita
La Argentinita is the stage name of a famous dancer born Encarnación López Julvez in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Among her performances was as the Butterfly in the premiere of Federico García Lorca's El maleficio de la mariposa...
", as the Butterfly and Catalina Bárcena as the Cockroach. It was not well received by the public and was cancelled after only four performances. Later García Lorca would claim on various occasions that Mariana Pineda
Mariana Pineda
Mariana Pineda is a play by the Spanish playwright and poet Federico García Lorca. It is based on the life of Mariana de Pineda Muñoz, whose republican opposition to Ferdinand VII had become part of the folklore of Granada. The play was written between 1923 and 1925 and was first performed in June...
(1927) was his first play.
Several aspects of the style and thematic content of The Butterfly's Evil Spell would become distinguishing features of Lorca's mature drama: the exploration of symbolist stylization and non-naturalism
Naturalism (theatre)
Naturalism is a movement in European drama and theatre that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It refers to theatre that attempts to create a perfect illusion of reality through a range of dramatic and theatrical strategies: detailed, three-dimensional settings Naturalism is a...
, the incorporation of different art forms including music and ballet, bold attention to details of staging, and familiar themes such as frustrated love and the imminence of death.