What story could your stairs tell about your life? For some that might be an interesting tale day to day, but now imagine what that story might be over decades.
“Historia de una escalera,” known as, “Story of a Stairway” in English, is a production to be staged this weekend at East Leyden High School, performed in English and Spanish. The play depicts several families over decades, illustrating societal stakes of the Spanish Civil War.
“It’s pretty cool how you get to see the people age, and you see how the choices they made when they were young still follow them around,” assistant director Miriam Porras said.
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Porras explained that there are two casts for the play. Porras said that Teatro Leyden will produce the play in English and Spanish and has a complete cast for each production separately.
Porras said the play is comprised of three acts, depicting a 30-year time span beginning in 1919 to about 1949. Porras said each act is about a half-hour.
“Story of a Stairway” was the first play of many written by Antonio Buero Vallejo. He is associated with an existentialist movement of artists that emerged during the Spanish Civil War.
According to the Spain is Culture portal, a site that is dedicated to the country’s cultural heritage, “the play tells the story of individual and collective frustration of three poor family generations and aims to [analyze] the injustices and lies in Spanish society. It presents a collection of characters who personify the demagogy, the immobility of the system, repression and unfulfilled promises, amongst others.” This play won Vallejo Spain’s Lope de Vega prize.
The production will be performed only one weekend. “Story of a Stairway’s” opening night is Friday with a performance by the English cast at 7 p.m. The English cast performs again Saturday at 3 p.m.
“Historia de una Escalera” will be performed Saturday at 7 p.m. by the Spanish cast, and again on Sunday at 3 p.m.
English or Spanish, Porras said, “you will still understand the show even if you don’t understand the words. … You don’t have to see it in English to enjoy the show.”
Although the production centers around a stairway in Madrid, during the Civil War in Spain, she shared that there is an overriding theme.
“Life is kind of a cycle, and everything that you put out in the world comes back to you,” Porras said.
Taryn Galbreath is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.