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- Los engranajes
- Staging information
Los engranajes (1997), Raúl Hernández Garrido
- Scene
Divided into two acts, Los engranajes (The Gears) has a complex temporal structure. The action moves between three distinct periods in Nina’s life. Scenes take place during her childhood and young adolescence, during which she is left at the convent by her mother, seduced by her mother’s lover, and forced to have an abortion. Another temporal strand takes place during Nina’s marriage to Miguel, when they meet Sergio and eventually kill him. The third temporal strand takes place in the present, as Nina and Miguel stand trial. These strands are intertwined, and at times characters are forced to act simultaneously in two different time periods. The intertwining of the different periods of Nina’s life is intended to reflect the knitting together of cogs in a gearwheel, suggesting how a collection of circumstances all led to Nina committing murder.
The final short scene shows Nina laughing with a young boy. Hernández notes that this scene should seem incongruent in the context of what has taken place, as it depicts what would have happened had Nina’s hopes and dreams been realised. It is, as the playwright states, the scenario that would have prevented her becoming both victim and executioner (Hernández 1997).
Hernández Garrido, Raúl. 1997. ‘Los surcos de la lluvia: Algunas reflexiones sobre experiencias en la escritura teatral contemporánea’. In Cuadernos de Dramaturgia 2. Alicante, Instituto de Cultura Juan Gil-Albert (in Spanish)
- Staging
(Hernández Garrido 1997)Los engranajes (The Gears) is a highly theatrical piece. The action jumps back and forth between different times and locations. Because of this, the playwright makes it clear that the play cannot be performed in a naturalistic manner. Rather, the onus is on the actors to use their bodies to portray shifts in time and location (Hernández 1997).
For most of the play, all the characters remain on stage, acting their parts as and when required. During the trial scenes, the characters become the audience in court. At times, characters involve the audience in the action, such as when the Journalist asks audience members about their reaction to the murder trial. Near the end of the play, Nina offers the members of the court pieces of meat, as if conducting a macabre Communion service. Guards try and hold the crowd back, but it surges through. The guards open fire and then drag the bodies off stage.
During the intermission the characters remain on stage. They perform various tasks, such as fixing their makeup and adjusting the scenery. The Journalist spends the intermission reading contemporary news stories to the audience.
Hernández Garrido, Raúl. 1997. ‘Los surcos de la lluvia: Algunas reflexiones sobre experiencias en la escritura teatral contemporánea’. In Cuadernos de Dramaturgia 2. Alicante, Instituto de Cultura Juan Gil-Albert (in Spanish)
- Cast number
-
Minimum Maximum 4 males 14 males 3 females 9 females 7 (total) 23 (total) - Characters
- NINA, 24 years old
- MIGUEL, 52 years old
- SERGIO, 26 years old
- MOTHER
- NUN
- TERESA
- LOVER
- PROSTITUTE
- DOCTOR
- BUTCHER
- BEGGAR WOMAN
- BOY
- INVESTIGATING JUDGE
- FEMALE OFFICIAL
- JOURNALIST
- CONVENT SISTERS
- WORKERS
- POLICE
- GUARDS
Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 22 May 2011.
