Griselda Gambaro is arguably one of Argentina’s most important dramatists, as well as a playwright of international significance, whose poetics not only interpret Argentine reality but transcend cultural and geographical borders. Despite international recognition, her plays remain little performed in the UK, an absence which makes this anthology of new translations a welcome contribution to British theatre culture, and to the English-speaking stage. Prolific since the 1960s, Gambaro’s plays are radical, subversive, and endlessly inventive in the use of form and theatricality. This is a theatre of resistance which has the potential to make searing comments on our own domestic and political contexts, an experience which may not be comfortable but is always vital. Dazzling, original, incisive and poetic, this anthology shows Griselda Gambaro at the height of her creative powers. Siamese Twins (1967) In this charged and forceful play, two brothers (one weak, one strong) play out a primal scene of envy, cruelty and torture as one exerts his power and aggression over the other. Mother by Trade (1999) In a stark process of truth and reconciliation, a daughter meets her estranged mother forty years after she abandoned her as an infant. As the Dream Dictates (2002) How can we look to the future if there is great trauma in our past? In this play, only the untethered thinking that comes with dreaming allows us the freedom to imagine. Asking Too Much (2004) In this enigmatic two-hander, the roles played by a man and a woman in the game of human attachment are renegotiated. Persistence (2007) Inspired by the real life event of the 2004 Beslan massacre in Russia, Persistence is a poetic play which goes to the heart of human tragedy. Dear Ibsen, I Am Nora (2013) Nora, the character created by Henrik Ibsen in A Doll’s House, decides to confront her creator and to debate with him her own words and actions. The Gift (2015) Márgara is a woman with the gift of prophecy… but people do not believe her, even though she predicts hope for the world. Will humanity be able to hear her?

Griselda Gambaro is arguably one of Argentina’s most important dramatists, as well as a playwright of international significance, whose poetics not only interpret Argentine reality but transcend cultural and geographical borders. Despite international recognition, her plays remain little performed in the UK, an absence which makes this anthology of new translations a welcome contribution to British theatre culture, and to the English-speaking stage. Prolific since the 1960s, Gambaro’s plays are radical, subversive, and endlessly inventive in the use of form and theatricality. This is a theatre of resistance which has the potential to make searing comments on our own domestic and political contexts, an experience which may not be comfortable but is always vital. Dazzling, original, incisive and poetic, this anthology shows Griselda Gambaro at the height of her creative powers. Siamese Twins (1967) In this charged and forceful play, two brothers (one weak, one strong) play out a primal scene of envy, cruelty and torture as one exerts his power and aggression over the other. Mother by Trade (1999) In a stark process of truth and reconciliation, a daughter meets her estranged mother forty years after she abandoned her as an infant. As the Dream Dictates (2002) How can we look to the future if there is great trauma in our past? In this play, only the untethered thinking that comes with dreaming allows us the freedom to imagine. Asking Too Much (2004) In this enigmatic two-hander, the roles played by a man and a woman in the game of human attachment are renegotiated. Persistence (2007) Inspired by the real life event of the 2004 Beslan massacre in Russia, Persistence is a poetic play which goes to the heart of human tragedy. Dear Ibsen, I Am Nora (2013) Nora, the character created by Henrik Ibsen in A Doll’s House, decides to confront her creator and to debate with him her own words and actions. The Gift (2015) Márgara is a woman with the gift of prophecy… but people do not believe her, even though she predicts hope for the world. Will humanity be able to hear her?

From Ushuaia, the southernmost town in the world to the edges of the great Parana river, and from the city of Buenos Aires to its fertile plains and the estuaries of northern Argentina, The Oberon Anthology of Contemporary Argentinian Plays provides a unique insight into the preoccupations and the creative responses of one of the major theatre-producing countries in Latin America. _x000D_ Includes the plays: _x000D_ La vida extraordinaria (Extraordinary Life) by Mariano Tenconi Blanco, translated by Catherine Boyle _x000D_ Pato verde (Green Duck) by Fabian Miguel Diaz, translated by Gwen MacKeith _x000D_ Fonavi by Leonel Giacometto, translated by Rosalind Harvey _x000D_ Nou Fiuter (No Future) by Franco Calluso, translated by William Gregory _x000D_ Poema ordinario (Poor Men's Poetry) by Juan Ignacio Fernandez, translated by William Gregory _x000D_ Fuego de dragon sobre dragon de madera (Dragon Fire over Wood Dragon) by Candelaria Sabagh, translated by Kate Eaton

'I would like to, I would like to...cut the cord.' First performed in 1967, this is an early, yet startling, brilliant work by the internationally acclaimed Argentine playwright Griselda Gambaro. In this absurd and forceful play, two brothers carry out a primal scene of envy, cruelty and torture. Ignacio wants to break free of his brother and move out of their shared house, but Lorenzo has other plans. Through a series of dark comedic scenes the absurd becomes a harrowing metaphor of the most pure and raw reality.