Special Issue on Crisis and Rupture
Notes on ALHAMBRA
From STUFF AS DREAMS: My Work in Theatre
In May of 2016, Laura and I joined our friends Sarah and Chuck Riehm on a two-week trip through Spain. Sarah was researching a play that she was writing about Flamenco artists and wanted to visit some of the locations. I knew little about Spain and had no thoughts about writing anything, although I had committed myself to direct my first student production in years at UT Dallas.
We planned the trip over long-distance telephone, choosing rental apartments and hotels in Madrid, Seville, and Granada, with a stop in Cordoba. Laura and I would then go on to Barcelona and beyond. I did my obligatory, cursory tour book prepping and off we went. On various tours through touristic sites, I was intrigued by guides speaking about Convivencia (co-existence) a historical theory that posits that from the Muslim conquest in the 8th century until the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived together in relative peace and harmony. This seemed to be a favored theme for the Spanish tourist industry which tends to romanticize history and ignore the darker aspects of religious and racial relationships.
[To read the full article, please download the PDF below–coming soon!]