Out of the Wings

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Barranca abajo (c.1905), Florencio Sánchez

Titles
English title: Downhill
Date written: c. 1905
First production date: 26 April 1905
Keywords: morality > honour, violence > social, violence > suicide, identity > class/social standing, identity > hierarchy, family > patriarchy, history > change/revolution, family > parents and children
Genre and type: tragedy
Pitch

A Latin American tragedy which tells the story of a Uruguayan patriarch and his family of women who, not unlike Lear, has fallen from his high perch in the old gauchesque world of land-owning and has descended into turmoil and despair, unable to make the transition into modern, liberal society.

Synopsis

A family drama set in rural Uruguay in the early twentieth century. Don Zoilo, a once successful landowner, is the father of three daughters, Robustiana, Rudecinda and Prudencia. In a d... (Read more...)

Critical response

Barranca abajo is uniformly regarded as a great Latin American tragic drama.

Editions
  • Sánchez, Florencio. 1972. La gringa; and, Barranca abajo. Rutherford, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Useful readings and websites
  • Ramirez, Manuel D. 1966. ‘Florencio Sanchez and His Social Consciousness of the River Plate Region’, Journal of Inter-American Studies , 8, 585-594.

  • Richardson, Ruth. 1975. Florencio Sánchez and the Argentine Theatre. New York, Gordon Press

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Entry written by Gwendolen Mackeith. Last updated on 17 May 2012.

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