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MELODRAMAS FOR PUPPETS AND PLAYLETS FOR SILHOUETTES: FOUR , STAGEWORKS BY VALLE-INCLAN WHILE THE THIRD AND FINAL PERIOD of his theatrical career began in 1920,1 Valle-Inchin had to wait for several years thereafter before he would see the production of another of his works.2 La cabeza del Bautista (The Hea" of the Baptist) opened at Madrid's Teatro EI Centro on October 17, 1924, accompanied by Valle-Inchin's earlier one-act play Cuento de abril (April Tale).3 Thus began a new era for the dramatist, an era of enthusiastic reinvolvement with the stage. First subtitled A Macabre Novel but later Melodrama for Puppets, T he Head of the Baptist is a play in one act which has obvious symbolic affinity to the grotesque history of St. John the Baptist, Salome, and Herod. Valle-Inchin sets the action in a neighborhood cafe run by Don Igi el Indiano, a former expatriate returned to Spain. As in other such settings there is music, movement, laughter and the odor of the street. The old merchant receives an unexpected visit from EI J andalo, nemesis out of Don Igi's life in America. Alberto Saco, as EI J andalo calls himself, has traced the whereabouts of his stepfather in order to extort money from him on the basis of an old accusation . As a group of patrons awaits the newcomer's companionship, he threatens Don Igi with a twisted grimace to which the old man reacts with fear. EI Jandalo exits, temporarily entertaining with an Andalusian flair and a well-played guitar those who have gathered around him. Don Igi, the Herod of the piece, tells his concubine and servantwench La Pepona, his Salome, the reason for EI Jandalo's visit. Like John the Baptist, Alberto Saco is the voice of conscience who has entered Don Igi's domain. But the merchant tells (feigns?) a story wherein he has been unjustly accused by EI J andalo's testimony of 1 The first period began in 1898 and extended through 1899. See Robert Lima, "Valle-lncIan: The Man and His Early Plays," Drama Critique (Spanish Theatre Issue), IX, No. 2 (Spring, 1966), 69-78; the second period covered the years 1903-1913. (See Robert Lima, "Valle-Inclfm in The Theatre: The Second Phase," Hispania, LUI, No.3, 419-428.) The last went from 1920 to his death in 1936. 2 Voces de gesta (EPic Voices), the last of his plays to reach the stage, had been premiered in 1911 and continued to run in repertory through the summer of 1912. 3 La rosa de papel and Sacrilegio may have been on the same bill with La Cabeza del Bautista; contemporary references are obscure on this matter, but there is some evidence in favor of the assumption. 374 1971 MELODRAMAS FOR PUPPETS 375 murdering his wife (Saco's mother) and stripped of his property upon condemnation by the court. He explains EI Jandalo's action as a vengeful act in which he killed his own mother in order to inherit her supposed wealth but finding that all her funds had been invested by Don 19i, turned to the incrimination. Don Igi tells the tale without pause in the style of a man who has practiced it many times. La Pepona listens with increasing interest and finally offers to collaborate with Don Igi in eliminating the man who is a threat to both of them. Salome will perform her dance for the unsuspecting Alberto Saco, and Don Igi will function as the knife-wielding executioner. The ploy goes into effect when EI Jandalo returns from his outing through the city streets. La Pepona with expert coquettishness tells him to come back alone. EI Jandalo reappears shortly. As he enters the cafe he informs Don Igi that he will take both his money and the sensual Pepona. He orders his victim to count out the coins while he adval'lces toward the entertainment promised by the woman's smile and erotic pose. While the passion of man and woman are displayed before him, Don 19i adjusts the hidden knife; when he receives the signal from La Pepona he strikes the vulnerable back of...

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