Written in 1925 during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, Lorca's second play Mariana Pineda opened to critical acclaim at Teatro Goya in Barcelona on June 24, 1927, with Spain's leading actress Margarita Xirgu in the lead role; the production moved to Teatro Fontalba in Madrid on October 12, 1927 for a highly successful run of 10 performances. The success of the play most certainly buoyed Lorca, whose first play The Butterfly's Evil Spell, had been a dismal failure in the eyes of his contemporaries. Lorca sometimes referred to Mariana Pineda as his first play.
Mariana Pineda is directed by Argos MacCallum, a co-founder of Teatro Paraguas and its current artistic director. "Theatre audiences know Lorca's three tragedies, but seldom if ever have a chance to see this play. It has intrigued me for a long time. It's highly romantic, with poetry and song, but also contains a passionate plea against tyranny and autocratic rule. It represents to me Lorca's powers as both poet and playwright fusing together to produce the first of a long line of literary achievements," he said.
Anna Dempf stars as Mariana, who must balance her love for her children, her infatuation with the ringleader of the conspirators Don Pedro (played by Steven Gonzales), and her fear and loathing of the chief of the secret police Pedrosa (played by Noah G. Simpson). Her troubles blind her to the real love of Fernando (Riley Samuel Merritt), who loves her deeply and who plays a pivotal role in the outcome of the tragedy. Mariana in the face of death transforms her deep love of Pedro into a love of freedom and mankind: "I give myself so freedom's flame may never fade."
Rounding out cast are Corlina Kiernan as her servant Clavela, Corinna MacNeice as her adopted mother Doña Angustias, Monica Arteaga and Ali Esmeralda Marin as the Judge's daughters, George Bereschik as the gardener Alegrito, and Carlos Sigala as a conspirator.
Miranda Arteaga stars as Mariana's daughter.
This project is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, as well as support from New Mexico Arts (Dept. of Cultural Affairs), Santa Fe Arts and Culture, Santa Fe Community Foundation, Meow Wolf Foundation, and the National Latinx Theatre Initiative.