The Lady From Alfaqueque

SANWAL

(4.5 stars; 2 reviews)

The Lady from Alfaqueque A comedy by Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero An English version: By Helen and Harley Granville-Barker Characters in order of speaking: The scene is set by Basil Jones Rosita: Gudrun Ure Don Pascual: Alan Wheatley Alberta: Hilda Schrober Realito: Anthony Hall Fernandita: Marjorie Westbury Blanca: Eva Haddon Noblejas: David March Nicolas: Douglas Hankin Adoracion: Mary Wimbush Felipe Rivas: Peter Marinker Paloma: Rowena Torrance Produced by Joe Burroughs SATURDAY-NIGHT THEATRE First broadcast:  Sat 23rd Apr 1966 20:30 on BBC Home Service Basic It is always pleasant to dip into the lazy latitudes of Iberia with those sentiment Spaniards, the Quintero brothers, although their engaging little works (affectionately translated by the Granville-Barkers) are infrequently performed on our stages.   "The Lady from Alfaqueque" is a typical trifle from their repertoire, suffused with the gentle charm and sunny romanticism which are the hallmarks of their wares. Fernandita is a lady who has lived in Madrid for twenty years, but whose heart will always belong to the litte Andalusian town where she was born and brought up. She lives happily enough with her husband in the capital, but we suspect it is only because she bas taken care to surround herself with so many mementoes of home. "I sometimes think," she will say, "that Heaven must be very like Alfaqueque," and she plainly believes it to be inhabited by angels. But a surprising number of the angels leave their heaven for Madrid and find their way to her apartments where, to the mild exasperation of her husband, she offers trusting hospitality to all who cross her threshold with the magic name of Alfaqueque on their lips. It seems almost inevitable that some day her trust must be betrayed. (Kenneth A. Hurren)

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.