LAS GUERRAS DE NUESTROS ANTEPASADOS

A cry against the violence of war is the master line of Miguel Delibes’ novel Las guerras de nuestros antepasados [The Wars of our Ancestors], published in 1975. Throughout the book, from the name of the main character, “Pacífico” to the terrible ending, the author from Valladolid defended peace against war, and non-violence as a way of life.

This adaptation by Eduardo Galán highlights the complex character of Pacífico Pérez, his submission to those with power, his almost Franciscan resignation in the face of a destiny engraved in his memory from the cradle with the stories of the wars told to him by Abue, Bisa and Padre. The play respects the novel’s original outline of seven interviews between Pacifico and the prison psychiatrist. In them he expresses himself with complete freedom and in the best rural Castilian, which the original author so fittingly assigned him. The actor Carmelo Gómez (a native of a village in León), worked with Galán to “polish” the latest version of the text.