Antonio Álvarez Lleras

Antonio Álvarez Lleras (* 1892 in Bogotá ; † 1956 , pseudonym: Joaquín Zuluaga ) was a Colombian playwright and is considered the founder of modern Colombian theater.

Life

Lorenzo María Lleras' grandson attended the Instituto de La Salle in Bogotá, studied for a year at the law faculty of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 1910 and, from 1913, dentistry at the Colegio Dental . He later taught here and at the Instituto Dental Colombiano . From 1927 to 1931 he was the Colombian consul in Cádiz .

Álvarez Lleras belonged to the Sociedad de Autores de Colombia and the Sociedad Arboleda (Society "The Grove") in the 1910s and became a member of the Academia de la Lengua and correspondent of the Real Academia Española . During his time at the Instituto de La Salle, he wrote plays for the school's theater group. In 1911 a Spanish drama group under Evangelina Adams performed his play Víboras sociales ("Social Mood") at the Teatro Municipal de Bogotá . For the comedy Fuego extraño ("Strange Fire") he received a prize from the Sociedad de Autores de Colombia in 1912 .

In 1916, Como los muertos (“Like the Dead”) was premiered at the Teatro de Cristóbal Colón in Bogotá by the Compañía Dramática Benavente . The piece was so successful that it appeared five times in print by 1931 and was played several times by other groups until the 1930s. The brothers Vicente and Francisco Di Domenico filmed the play with Matilde Palou in the lead role.

The Argentine actress Camila Quiroga , who performed his drama El zarpazo (“The Claw”) during her stay in Bogotá in 1927 at the Teatro Colón, took the piece into her repertoire and performed it on her travels in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, on Manhattan Opera House (1927), at the Théâtre de la Madeleine (1928) and at the Exposición Iberoamericana in Seville (1928).

In 1944 Álvarez Lleras founded the Renacimiento theater company . The performance of his play El virrey Solís ("Viceroy Solis") at the Teatro Colón in 1948 was praised by the press as the highlight of his dramatic work. He is considered to be the founder of modern theater in Colombia.

During his time as consul in Cadiz, he wrote the novella Ayer, nada más , which appeared in Paris in 1930. He also published two volumes of poetry.

Works

• Don Luis Velásquez
• Los de Altamora
• Los traidores de Puerto Cabello
• El doctor Bacanotas
• Víboras sociales , UA 1911
• Alma joven , WP 1912
• Fuego extraño , WP 1912
• Como los muertos , WP 1916
• Los mercenarios , UA 1924
• El zarpazo , WP 1927
• Almas de ahora , 1945
• El virrey Solís , UA 1848
• Alejandría la pagana
• La toma de Granada
• El Angel de Navidad
• El marido de Mimí
• El sí de los coca-colos
• Sirena pesca marido
• Por teléfono , dialogue
• De año nuevo , dialogue
• Ayer, nada más , novella
• Sonatina de otoño , poems
• Ensoñadores , poems

Web links

• Literature by and about Antonio Álvarez Lleras in the catalog of the Ibero-American Institute of Prussian Cultural Heritage, Berlin