Sebastián Junyent:  PACKING UP THE PAST (Hay que deshacer la casa).
    Translated by Ana Mengual.  2000.

Two middle-aged sisters, who have been estranged for a number of years, are reunited when they close up their deceased parents' home.  One has been a model daughter, wife and mother; the other ran away from home with a married man.  Reminiscences about childhood culminate in a comic rendition of "Singing in the Rain."  Less happy memories of growing up in Franco's Spain lead them to realize that both have been equally victimized by the men in their lives.

Winner of Spain's prestigious Lope de Vega prize, this comedy opened in Valencia in 1994 and at the Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid in 1995, directed by Joaquín Vida and starring Amparo Rivelles and Lola Cardona.  American premiere, in Spanish with original cast:  Miami, 1985. Packing up the Past received its American premiere at Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina on 10 May 2000, directed by Steven R. Hunt. 

• One set
  2 women

  Contact translator: Ana Mengual, 1388 2nd Avenue, Apt. 3A, New York, NY 10021; Phone: 1-212-734-7134
  E-mail: ana_mengual@hotmail.com, or author through SGAE.

Packing up the Past. Original Spanish production, 1985. Directed by Joaquin Vida. Photo by Manuel Martínez Muñoz.