Word: neruda
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Curfew's plot centers on the wake and funeral of Matilde Neruda, widow of the Nobel Laurate Pablo Neruda, who was also a well known communist and recipient of the Stalin Prize. During the course of the wake, a debate ensues as to whether the widow's last wishes should be granted...
...arguing becomes complicated upon the arrival of government official Freddy Fox, who holds the authorization for the Pablo Neruda Foundation, which is to be created upon Matilde's death. He tells the communists that if they deny the dead woman's wishes and allow all leftist groups to converge on the cemetery under no specific leadership and without the church, he will authorize the Foundation. Lisboa's group accepts, but Fox meanwhile calls hundreds of police troops to surround the cemetery and to take notes on the leftists in attendance. The communists achieve their foundation, but they compromise their secrecy...
Skarmeta, like Llosa, chooses a writer--Chilean poet-hero Pablo Neruda--as his protagonist. The lines vibrate with metaphor. Poetry intermingles with the text of the play in a way that emphasizes the living spirit of Neruda in the hearts of revolutionaries...
...From early morning," Skarmeta's Neruda says, "the ocean begins its fantastic way of rising. It seems to be kneading an endless loaf of bread...
DESPITE THEIR brilliance, Llosa and Skarmeta seem to strain for metaphors and one-liners. ("Let's not carry democracy to the point of taking a vote to see who our father is," says Skarmeta's ever-composing Neruda.) On stage, an actor's delivery might compensate for much of the stiffness, but in print, it is trying...