Las galas del difunto/ The Dead Man's Finery (1926) and La hija del capitán/ The
Captain's Daughter (1927) are two of four tragic farces written by Ramón del Valle-
Inclán for the theatre. Translated here for the first time into English, the plays
demonstrate the dramatist's evolving theory of the esperpento as a satirical genre.
Las galas del difunto/ The Dead Man's Finery is a short dramatic incursion into the
life of Juanito Ventolera/Johnny Bluster, a decommissioned veteran of the Spanish-
American War who steals a dead man's clothes in order to woo a prostitute. A
recreation of the Don Juan legend, the play takes the problematic, protean and
devilish Don Juan and sets his outrageous behaviour in a very particular social and
historical context.
La hija del capitán/ The Captain's Daughter is the most historically and politically
oriented of Valle-Inclán's works for the theatre. A man is killed and the accident of
his death sets off a chain of events in which exploitation and self-interest are the
orchestrating forces, concluding in a military coup that topples the government. An
overt satire of the rise to power of General Primo de Rivera in 1923, the play
dispenses with the individual protagonist and portrays a society in crisis.
Notorious for his recondite use of language, in these plays Valle-Inclán emphasises
the popular idiom without ever falling into picturesque realism; rather than recreate
accurate modes of speech he creates a mode of expression that brings together all
the play's characters, regardless of their status or place in society. The emphasis on incongruity and contrast creates a peculiarly sarcastic tone that permeates the
dialogue.
The plays are accompanied by a critical introduction and notes to guide the reader or director of these plays, both fine examples of Valle-Inclán's expressionistic and
experimental theatre.
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