Methuen Drama María Martínez Sierra: A Great Playwright Hidden in Plain Sight: Three Plays from Spanish Theatre's Silver Age: 15 (Methuen Drama Play Collections)

Product Description María Martínez Sierra is the greatest female playwright you’ve never heard of. The wife of celebrated 20th century playwright Gregorio Martinez Sierra whose plays were popular in Spain, South America and in translation on Broadway and London's West End, the authorship of his work was revealed to be that of María , after his death in 1953, shocking the literary world. This edited collection features four plays by María Martínez Sierra, translated by Helen and Harley Granville Barker, along with an introduction by Patricia O’Connor, University of Cinicinnati, that examines María's extraordinary life and work and the battle for her authorship to be recognized in both the Spanish speaking and Anglophone world. Edited by playwright Richard Nelson and Professor Colin Chambers, this volume helps rectify this narrative by focusing on four plays, each centered on a strong female role, and each translated by the eminent man of theatre Harley Granville Barker and his wife, Helen, whose own story holds stark parallels in terms of authorship. The plays include: Wife to a Famous Man (1924); The Kingdom of God (1928); The Romantic Young Lady (1920) and Take Two From One (1931). Between them, they enjoyed celebrated runs on Broadway and in London's West End in productions starring the most iconic female actors of their time, including Ethel Barrymore, Gertrude Lawrence and Peggy Ashcroft Overall, the book recognizes María de la O Lejárraga García, to use her real name, as one of the most important female playwrights, not just in Spain, but globally, in the first half of the 20th century. About the Author María de la O Lejárraga García (1874 – 1974), usually known in Spanish under the pseudonym María Martínez Sierra was a Spanish feminist writer, dramatist, translator and politician. She collaborated with her husband Gregorio Martínez Sierra, with whom she is responsible for the authorship of much of his work. Richard Nelson, a major US playwright, is the recipient of the PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award and an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and is an Honorary Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Emeritus Professor Colin Chambers, former RSC Literary Manager, has written extensively on the theatre and, as an editor, is known for The Companion to 20th Century Theatre. Together, they edited Granville Barker on Theatre (Bloomsbury Methuen). Emerita Professor Patricia O’Connor, renowned expert on Maria Martinez Sierra, critic and translator, launched Spanish theatre journal Estreno in 1975 and served as editor for 17 years; books include Gregorio y Maria Martinez Sierra: Cronica De Una Colaboracion (1987) and Mito y realidad de una dramaturga española: María Martínez Sierra (2003)