Alejandro Casona

Casona, Alejandro 

(pseudonym of Alejandro Rodríguez Alvarez). Born Mar. 23, 1903, in Besullo, Ásturias; died Sept. 24, 1965, in Madrid. Spanish dramatist.

In 1931, Casona organized the National Theater in Madrid and in 1933, founded the Theater of Teaching Missions. From 1939 to 1963 he lived as an émigré in Argentina, where he participated in the Movement of Defenders of Peace. Casona’s first plays, The Siren Who Turned Up on Land (1934) and Our Natasha (1935), are devoted to student life. His plays, imbued with humanism, have close ties with the traditions of popular theater—for example, the lyrical dramas and comedies Suicide Is Forbidden in Springtime (1937), Trees Die Standing (1949; Russian translation, 1959), Seven Screams in the Ocean (1952; Russian translation, 1957), The Third Word (1954), and The Caballero of the Golden Spur (1965).

WORKS

Obras completas, vols. 1–2. [Madrid; 2nd ed., 1966–67].

REFERENCES

Rodríguez Richart, J. Vida y teatro de Alejandro Casona. Oviedo, 1963.
Gurza, E. La realidad caleidoscópica de Alejandro Casona. Oviedo, 1968.