Out of the Wings

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La sangre y la ceniza (1960-1965), Alfonso Sastre Salvador

Titles
English title: Blood and Ash
Notable variations on Spanish title: M.S.V., o La sangre y la ceniza, La sangre y la ceniza: Diálogos de Miguel Servet, M.S.V. o tragicomedia de La sangre y la ceniza
Date written: from 1960 to 1965
First publication date: 1967
First production date: 1977
Keywords: power > use and abuse, history, history > change/revolution, ideology, ideology > religion and faith, power, ideology > politics, violence, violence > torture, violence > social
Genre and type: tragicomedy
Title information

The initials ‘M.S.V.’ that appear in some versions of the title of the play refer to the signature that Miguel Servet used to sign his more contentious works in order not to be recognised by the authorities.

Pitch

Let us leave things in their place, but not as they were …

Synopsis

La sangre y la ceniza (Blood and Ash) dramatises aspects of the life and eventual execution of the sixteenth-century Spanish theologian and physician, Miguel Servet. It opens on a scene... (Read more...)

Sources

Epigraph

The play has an epigraph which reads in English ‘Let us leave things in their place, but not as they were’. This quotation by Sastre is a call to challenge the status quo. At ... (Read more...)

Critical response

La sangre y la ceniza (Blood and Ash) was first performed in Madrid in 1977 by the non-professional theatre company El Búho. When El Búho’s production was put on in Madrid between Nove... (Read more...)

Further information

Sastre began early drafts of La sangre y la ceniza (Blood and Ash)in 1960. It was eventually finished in 1965. However, it was subject to the Spanish censors, so that the first version ... (Read more...)

Editions
  • Sastre, Alfonso. 1967. Il sangue e la cenere: dialoghi di Miguel Serveti, trans. M. Luisa Aguirre D’Amico. Milan, Feltrinelli (in Italian)

  • Sastre, Alfonso. 1976. ‘M.S.V (o La sangre y ... (Read more...)

Information about the editions

Sastre began early drafts of La sangre y la ceniza (Blood and Ash)in 1960. It was eventually finished in 1965. However, it was subject to the Spanish censors, so that the first version... (Read more...)

Useful readings and websites
  • More information on the life and work of Miguel Servet can be found by clicking on the Servetus website at http://www.miguelservet.org/servetus/life.htm [accessed March 2010] (Online Publication)

  • Sastre, Alfonso. 1997. Flores rojas para Miguel Servet. Hondarribia, Hiru Narratvia (in Spanish)

Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 5 October 2010.

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