Out of the Wings

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El cruce sobre el Niágara (1969), Alonso Alegría

Titles
English title: Crossing Niagara
Notable variations on Spanish title: Crossing the Niagara
Date written: 1969
First publication date: 1969
First production date: 1969
Keywords: morality, identity > hierarchy, history > narrative, ideology > morality, ideology > honour, power > inter-personal/game play, identity > celebrity, power > media, art
Pitch

Ever since I was small.  I was convinced that if I only asked you, you would carry me over Niagara on your shoulders.  I was dying to do it.

Based on the nineteenth-century aerialist, this is the story of Carlo, a young follower of the artist Blondin, who persuades Blondin to take his art to its limit by carrying Carlo on his shoulders across a tightrope above Niagara Falls.  In preparation for this dangerous act, they must move and think as one, but these two men must tread carefully, negotiating their way through the balance of power in their relationship. A foot wrong and all is lost.

Synopsis

The play begins with a prologue which is an entry from the Encyclopaedia Britannica about the acrobat and tightrope walker, Jean François Gravelet (1824 – 97), who went by the name of ‘... (Read more...)

Sources

The play is based on the nineteenth-century aerialist, Jean François Gravelet (1824 – 97), who went by the stage name of ‘Blondin’. Among his various feats, he walked across Niagara Fa... (Read more...)

Critical response

Alonso Alegría’s play, El cruce sobre el Niágara, won the Casa de las Américas prize in 1969.  It has been performed all over Europe and the Americas hundreds of times to critical acclaim.

Editions
  • Alegría, Alonso. 1969. El cruce sobre el Niágara. Havana, Casa de las Américas

Useful readings and websites
  • Luchting, Wolfgang A. 1978. ‘Proliferation’, Latin American Theatre Review, 11, 2, 69-80

  • Luchting, Wolfgang A. 1981. ‘Getting Better: Perú, Latin American Theatre Review, 14, 2, 89-90

  • Luchting, Wolfgang. A. 1982. ‘The Usual and Some Better Shows: Peruvian Theatre in 1981’, Latin American Theatre Review, 15, 2, 59–63

  • Morris, Robert J. 1976. ‘Alonso Alegría: Dramatist and Theatrical Activist’, Latin American Theatre Review, 9, 49–55

  • Morris, Robert J. 1984. ‘Alonso Alegría Since The Crossing’, Latin American Theatre Review, 17, 25–9

  • Podestá, Bruno A. 1973. ‘Teatro Nacional Popular: Un teatro popular o la popularización del teatro?’, Latin American Theatre Review, 7,1, 33-41

Entry written by Gwendolen Mackeith. Last updated on 5 October 2010.

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