Federico Garcia Lorca, one of the great treasures of poetry and the stage – of civilization – wrote puppet plays as well. To wit:

“El retablillo de Don Cristóbal/The Farce of Don Cristóbal and the Maiden Rosita … Lorca’s puppet play that celebrates the defiance against dictatorial authority with knock-down-pratfall puppetry actually was performed on the battlefield to build troop morale against Franco’s forces. And what greater relief could there be than puppets in scenes of ribald joking and wild sex.” …Well, none. And PS, Blair Thomas‘ “Cabaret of Desire” stirs the same pot with a different spoon; I saw a production in Chicago a few years ago that I remember very fondly indeed. [Photo: Daniel Troconis.]