About the work
Federico García Lorca wrote "Mariana Pineda" between 1923 and 1925, his first full-length verse tragedy; it premiered on 24 June 1927 at the Teatre Goya in Barcelona, with sets and costumes by the young Salvador Dalí and Margarita Xirgu in the title role. A Madrid premiere followed that October at the Teatro Fontalba.
Plot
The play follows Mariana Pineda of Granada, who in 1831, under the absolutist rule of Ferdinand VII, hides a liberty flag embroidered by fellow liberal women in support of a conspiracy against the king. Arrested for it, she is offered her freedom by a judge in exchange for the names of her fellow conspirators, but she refuses and chooses death over betraying her convictions.
Cultural significance
After the failure of his first play in 1920, Lorca regarded Mariana Pineda as his true breakthrough on stage, and the set design marked Dalí's first professional theatre work. The story has remained present in Spanish theatre, later inspiring Osvaldo Golijov's 2003 opera Ainadamar.