El Diccionario
The Power of Words
A play by Manuel Calzada Pérez
In Spanish with English subtitles
The London Spanish Theatre Festival is proud to open its First edition with a play that celebrates the power of words bringing back to life Spanish lexicographer María Moliner.
Noble Prize winer Gabriel García Márquez wrote in the obituary after her death: “María Moliner wrote alone, in her own house and with her own hand the most complete, the most useful and the most entertaining dictionary of the Spanish language. María Moliner tried to collect all words of life. In fact, what this fabulous woman embarked on was a race against life itself. In 1972 her nomination to the Royal Academy on Language was rejected: never before had a woman been accepted. She was pleased with this news, as she was terrified by her acceptance speech. “What can I say”, she commented, “when all I have ever done in life is mending socks?”
In the words of the author of the play, “María Moliner is one of the most impressive and unknown personalities of 20th Century Spain: a quiet intellectual determined to create a better world despite a hazardous life. “The Power of Words” shows that this woman managed to complete her task only because she had made the most difficult decision: she chose to be free.”
Directed by José Carlos PLAZA, three times winner of the Spanish National Theatre Award.
Performed by Vicky PEÑA, winner of the Spanish National Theatre Award and four times winner of the Spanish MAX Theatre Award (The Spanish Olivier).
El Diccionario