• Overview
• Staging information
• Translations
• Sample translations
• Production history

Scene

The play is divided into three acts called ‘Days’, even though it runs over more than three days.

• Day One is divided into five scenes
• Day Two is divided into ten scenes
• Day Three is divided into five scenes

Staging

In its staging Divinas palabras (Divine Words) is an elaborate play, featuring a grotesque and colourful cast of characters. Originally located in the Galician countryside, its setting is rural, featuring sunlit groves of trees, cornfields, rivers, quaint villages and houses, poultry and livestock. The juxtaposition between the picturesque setting and the darkness of the plot is remarked upon by Marion Peter Holt, who notes that ‘[g]iven the grim progression of the action and the emphasis on the grotesque and diabolic, it is easy to forget that Valle-Inclán set several of his scenes in bucolic surroundings bathed in sunlight’ (1986: 85).

The main locations in the play are:

• The church and graveyard at San Clemente, where Pedro Gailo is sexton
• The old rural village of Lugar de Condes, where Marica del Reino lives
• The fountain area and square of San Clemente
• The colourful fair at Viana del Prior, packed with fairgoers and sellers of all types
• Ludovina’s tavern where Laureano dies
• The cornfields and country roads, where the farm workers and other itinerant characters spend much of their time
• The beach where Séptimo Miau and Mari-Gaila first make love in scene 5 of Day Two. This scene takes place under a starry night, in a sentry box at the beach. Moonlit waves crash on the beach, while fireworks go off in the sky.

The action moves swiftly from location to location. This is particularly true in scene 8 of Day Two in which Mari-Gaila encounters the Goat Goblin on the roadside. The Goat Goblin magically transports her to a path along the side of an estuary, and then to a church at a crossroads. A red light glows inside the church and there are witches dancing around it. At the end of this scene Mari-Gaila is spirited up into the air, and finds herself atop the goat-goblin.

The death of Laureano, which takes place in scene 7 of Day Two, is depicted in a quasi-religious manner. While he is being fed more and more alcohol, an elderly couple with a young daughter are seated having a meal in the inn. The directions state that their stance and reaction to Laureano’s final moments should resemble a nativity scene, with the young girl dressed in a purple robe and all three characters appearing wax-like, as if they were figurines on an altar.

Nudity

In scene 10 of Day Two Marica del Reino’s old and wizened breasts are exposed as she looks out of her window to find Laureano’s rotting corpse outside her house.

In scenes 4 and 5 of Day Three Mari-Gaila is progressively stripped naked as she is chased through the fields and eventually lifted onto a cart to be brought back to her husband.

Animals

The play is full of animals. Chickens and pigs run in and out of houses, cattle graze in the fields and characters travel on horseback. Séptimo Miau is accompanied by two animals. His dog, Coimbra, dances on its hind legs. His goldfinch, Colorín, wears a little yellow uniform and hat. It is carried around in a cage.

Notable Characters

Mari-Gaila is beautiful, blonde and voluptuous.

Simoniña, in contrast, is clumsy, large and unattractive.

Pedro Gailo is gaunt, balding and has a squint in his eye.

Séptimo Miau wears an eye-patch over one eye.

Miguelín is an effeminate character. He wears an earring in one of his ears and has a curly hair growing out of a mole near his mouth.

Laureano is a grotesque huge-headed dwarf. He rides around on a cart that has been crudely converted into a bed for him. After he dies his corpse becomes putrid and bloated.

Cast number

Minimum	Maximum
4 males	22 males
4 females	28 females
8 (total)	50 (total)

Cast information

Much of the cast is made up of peripheral – mainly female – onlookers. The cast number may vary depending on how many people feature in the crowd scenes of the play.

Characters

• SÉPTIMO MIAU, Also known as LUCERO and COMPADRE MIAU
• POCA PENA, Séptimo Miau’s lover
• JUANA LA REINA, Laureano’s mother
• LAUREANO, Idiot hydrocephalic dwarf
• PEDRO GAILO, Sexton of San Clemente
• MARI-GAILA, Wife of Pedro Gailo
• SIMONIÑA, Daughter of Pedro Gailo and Mari-Gaila
• ROSA LA TATULA, Elderly beggar
• MIGUELÍN EL PADRONÉS, Companion of Séptimo Miau
• HERDSMAN
• YOUNG BOYS
• WOMEN WHO FILL THEIR PITCHERS AT THE FOUNTAIN
• MARICA DEL REINO, Pedro Gailo’s sister
• OTHER PEASANT WOMEN
• BASTIÁN DE CANDÁS, Local mayor
• YOUNG GIRL
• THE BLIND MAN OF GONDAR
• LEMONADE SELLER
• PILGRIM
• TWO CIVIL GUARDS
• PEASANT COUPLE WITH A SICK DAUGHTER
• INN-KEEPER
• SERENÍN DE BRETAL
• OLD WOMAN AT A WINDOW
• PREGNANT WOMAN
• ANOTHER FEMALE NEIGHBOUR
• A SOLDIER
• LUDOVINA THE INN-KEEPER
• GROUPS OF YOUNG CHILDREN WHO SING TAUNTING SONGS
• PIOUS OLD WOMEN AND YOUNG GIRLS
• BENITA THE SEAMSTRESS
• QUINTÍN PINTADO
• MILÓN DE LA ARNOYA
• COIMBRA, Wise dog belonging to Séptimo Miau
• COLORÍN, Prophetic goldfinch belonging to Séptimo Miau
• THE GOAT GOBLIN
• ANONYMOUS TOAD WHO SINGS IN THE NIGHT
• A FINAL SHOUTING CROWD

Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 6 October 2010.

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