• Overview
• Staging information
• Translations
• Sample translations
• Production history

Scene

The play is divided into 34 short scenes.

Staging

Short films

Many of the scenes are preceded by short films which help move the action forward or set the mood. A number of the films feature the pigs in Máncer’s farm. Scene 6, for example, is made up entirely of a short film showing the pigs jumping about in terror. They look deformed and jump in ways which would, in fact, be physically impossible. Scene 15 shows the pigs being devoured by flames, as Máncer burns down the pigsty in anger.

The other short films give a sense of the geography of the land around the impoverished town square. There are mountains in the distance. Máncer’s large farm is locked up and features a huge tower, which is presumably where Maria has been imprisoned. When Alnado, Maria and Cain flee from Máncer, short films show them wandering in the desert. At the end of the play, a film shows Cain walking off into the sunset.

For much of the play, the gallows in the town square features prominently on stage. A man hangs from it at the beginning. When he is taken down by a funeral cortege, Alnado strings up a pig from the gallows and slits its throat. The town square is peopled by drunks, beggars and prostitutes who live in makeshift huts made out of rubbish. In scene 28 Alnado arrives in a nearby city port. Wardrobes, tables and chairs make up the walls of houses.

Music

The play is preceded by an excerpt from the theme song to the film The Searchers:

What makes a man to wander?

What makes a man to roam?

And makes a man leave bed and board?

And turn his back on home.

Ride away ... Ride away ... Ride away.

In scene 4, Maria sings part of a traditional tango, Senda florida, written by Eugenio Cárdenas. Abel strums his guitar in scene 5. He sings Cure for Pain by the American rock group Morphine and part of Today by The Smashing Pumpkins.

Near the beginning of the play, when Alnado first appears, he whistles an old folk tune. At the end of the play, Cain leaves towards the mountains, whistling the same tune.

Cast number

Minimum	Maximum
8 males	17 males
3 females	3 females
11 (total)	20 (total)

Cast information

‘Máncer’ is a slang term for a prostitute’s child. ‘Alnado’ is a Spanish word for a stepchild.

Characters

• MÁNCER
• OLD MAN
• VOICE OF MAN OFFSTAGE
• LEADER
• FUNERAL CORTEGE
• ALNADO
• ABEL
• MARIA
• CAIN
• PRIEST
• BEGGARS AND DRUNKS
• BLIND MAN
• PROSTITUTE 1
• PROSTITUTE 2
• GRAVEDIGGER 1
• GRAVEDIGGER 2
• CORPSE

Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 30 November 2011.

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