SHORT PLAYS BY FRANCISCO NIEVA
These fanciful plays are representative of Nieva's Theatre of Fantasy, Humor and Terror: works written for college-aged actors that draw on the melodramatic codes of classic Hollywood movies. These two "wolf-man" texts, Watch Out for Wolves, formed part of a trilogy performed successfully in 1995 at the Colline National Theatre in Paris. Dir. Agathe Alexis
It's Not True (No es verdad)
Two young men and a young woman have been left to fend for themselves in their dilapidated family castles. Over the years, they have entertained themselves with stories of how one of them has become leader of a wolf pack. When the woman wishes to mate with the wolf-man and join the pack, her cousin attempts to intervene. Wolves attack the housekeeper and the cousin. Is the fanciful tale of a human leader of the wolf pack perhaps true after all?
3 men, 2 women. Single set: interior of chateau in rural France.
Spanish premiere, 1988.
English version published in The Mercurian. A Theatrical Translation Review. 3.3 (2011): 103-23. (Digital journal.)
Red Riding Hood, Part II (Caperucita y el otro)
Bored by Alex, her proper British husband, the adult Red Riding Hood yearns for the Wolf. The Wolf appears, Alex flees, and Red Riding Hood gets her wish to have a more exciting relationship. Grandmother accepts the Wolf into the family, but Red Riding Hood's resentment toward her grandmother and Alex's return lead to fatal consequences.
2 men, 3 women. Garden and interior of English cottage.
First presented as television play, Spain, 1979. English version, not yet performed, published in CTReview, 28.2 (Fall 2006): 107-17.