About the Author of the Play
...AND THEY PUT HANDCUFFS ON THE FLOWERS.
FERNANDO ARRABAL.
According to the Dictionary of French Language Literatures:
"Arrabal's theatre is a wild, brutal, cacophonous,
and joyously provocative world. It is a dramatic carnival in which the
carcass of our "advanced" civilizations is barbecued over the spits
of a permanent revolution. He is the artistic heir of Kafka's lucidity
and Jarry's humor; in his violence, Arrabal is related to Sade and
Artaud. Yet he is doubtless the only writer to have pushed derision as
far as he did. Deeply political and merrily playful, both revolutionary
and bohemian, his work is the syndrome of our century of barbed wire and
Gulags, a manner of finding a reprieve."
 Fernando
Arrabal has published 12 novels (among which the autobiographical Baal
Babylone - Viva la muerte in 1959), 6 collections of poems, nearly 70
plays (till now, his complete theater has been published in 19 volumes in
France), 16 essays and epistles (among which the famous Letter to
General Franco, published during the dictator's lifetime), nearly 150
books for bibliophiles and poems illustrated by Dali, Picasso, Saura, Olivier
O. Olivier, Dorny, Cortot, Pouperon, Fassianos, and others.
He has directed 7 full-length films, the last one of which was devoted to
Jorge Luis Borges and entitled Jorge Luis Borges - Una vita de poesia,
has just been released.
Throughout his expansive and eclectic carreer, Arrabal has worked with many
of the most important artists of the Twentieth Century from John Lennon to
Pablo Picasso, from Laurence Olivier to Spike Lee.
While virtually unknown in the United States (in spite of winning NYC's
Obie Award in 1975), Arrabal's works are widely read and performed
abroad. In fact, it has been said that the sun never sets on Arrabal's
plays.
Fernando Arrabal was born in Melilla (Spanish Morocco) on
August 11, 1932, shortly before the Civil War was to tore his country apart.
His father, officer of the Spanish Army , is sentenced to death at the
beginning of the Civil War for being opposed to the military coup. His
sentence is commuted to hard labour for life. He is transferred to different
jails, escapes from the last one on November 4, 1941 and disappears forever.
The trauma created by this tragedy marks Fernando Arrabal's life and work.
In the words of Nobel Prize-winning Poet Vicente Aleixandre, "...
the knowledge brought by Arrabal is tinged with a moral light which belongs to
the very substance of his art."
In 1962 Fernando Arrabal founded the "Panic Movement" together with Roland Topor and Alexandro Jodorowsky.
"Panic" comes from the God Pan, the All. The "Panic" man
was a man of total refusal, refusal of all danger, he did not expose himself
and did not die a hero's death.
Arrabal's application of this Panic Movement to the world of theatre -- the
"Theatre of Panic" as he calls it -- gave rise to his
entirely unique theatrical style. Very much in keeping with the graphic
plays of Antonin Artaud and Peter Weiss and other experimental playwrights
that enjoyed so much fascination in the 1960s, Arrabal's plays are consummed
with issues of hate, oppression, and resistance and marked by unflinchingly
explicit depictions of brutality, obscenity, and sexuality.
In 1967 while on an international book-signing tour, Arrabal was arrested
in Madrid for writing an "blasphemous" inscription in one of
his novels. He was only released after an international campaign was
mounted on his behalf drawing direct appeals from, among others, Samuel
Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, and Arthur Miller. This incident was
undoubtedly the inspiration for one of his most significant dramatic works, "...and
they put handcuffs on the flowers."
"...and they put handcuffs on the flowers." was
first published in 1969 and enjoyed enormous popularity in Europe. In
1972, the play was performed off-Broadway -- under the direction of the
playwright himself -- bringing Arrabal's work to the attention of American
audiences on a large scale for the first time.
Although he is one of Europe's most controversial writers, he
has received many international prizes and distinctions -- he was even a
finalist for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. His work has been
translated in most languages (he is notably one of the French speaking authors
that is the most translated in Europe).
His multiple creative inspirations are also expressed in the plastic arts. He has been
exploring these through a profusion of sculptures, paintings, collages,
drawings, of which many exhibitions and retrospectives have been held in
galleries and museums in different countries.
As if this wasn't enough, Arrabal is also a world-renown chess player and
has crossed swords with many of the world's best including Russian Grand
Master Boris Spassky himself.
When he is not travelling all over all the continents to give lectures, to
attend performances of his plays, "to take note" of the
world's state and to defend human rights where they are flouted, Fernando
Arrabal lives and works in Paris.
Detailed chronology of Fernando Arrabal by
Ante Glibota
1932
Birth of Fernando Arrabal Teran on August 11 in Melilla (Spanish Morocco)
where his father, Officer of the Spanish Army, is temporarily settled.
1936
Arrabal's father is arrested because he refuses to join the military coup.
He is sentenced to death and is then transferred to the Burgos jail. Fernando
Arrabal, his brother Julio, his sister Maria del Carmen and their mother leave
Melilla to settle in Ciudad Rodrigo in the home of the maternal grand-father.
1940
Arrabal's family settles in Madrid.
1941
Arrabal enters the Escolapios Fathers' school in Getafe near Madrid. This
high school is famed for the quality of its literary teachings
1942
His father escapes from jail in mysterious circumstances and is never heard
of again.
Fernando Arrabal wins a competition reserved for exceptionally gifted pupils.
(Premio de Superdotado).
1945
He starts writing short scenes inspired by family life and poems in the
manner of the Romantics.
In Madrid, Arrabal leads a marginal life and discovers the great comedy movies
of that time.
1947
He goes to Tolosa to enter the Paper Industry School.
He writes his first plays.
1951
He passes the Baccalaureate examination at Valencia, while working in a
paper factory.
1952
Back in Madrid he frequents the Ateneo and founds an Academy where he reads
his first works : The Roof, The Hay Waggon, The Incurable wood
(unpublished).
He starts to study law and meets with the Postist Poets.
He writes Picnic on the Battlefield.
1953
First signs of tuberculosis appears with fever.
He writes The Tricycle.
1954
He meets his future wife, Luce Moreau, for the first time.
1955
He receives a three months scholarship to study in Paris and settles on the
students' campus, but he falls ill and has to be sent to the Bouffemont
sanatorium. He considers this event as a stroke of chance,which allows him to
stay definitely in Paris.
1958
Fernando Arrabal marries Luce Moreau, a Spanish literature teacher who
starts translating his work into French. Publication of his plays Orison,
The Two Executioners, Fando and Lis, The Automobile Graveyard,
(Julliard Ed., Paris). He writes Baal Babylone (Viva la muerte),
his first autobiographical novel. He settles in an apartment at 62 rue de la
Pergolèse in the 16th district of Paris.
1959
His first important play : Picnic on the Battlefield is performed for the
first time in France, in Paris. He leaves for the United States where he
receives a scholarship, as a writer, from the Ford Foundation and receives the
"Recipient Award Ford Foundation", in New York. He travels through
the United States. Publication of his novel Baal Babylone (Viva la
muerte), (Julliard Ed., Paris).
1960
First meeting with Topor and Jodorowsky.
1961
Publication of his plays Guernica, The Labyrinth, The Tricycle,
Picnic on the Battlefield, The Condemned Man's Bicycle, (Julliard Ed.,
Paris) and of his novel The Burial of a Sardine , (Julliard Ed.,
Paris).
1962
With Topor and Jodorowsky he founds the "Panic Movement"
(a name evoking the Greek God Pan). With Jean Benoît, he often sees André
Breton's surrealist group.
1963
In Sydney, Australia, he gives his famous lecture about the Panic Man. In
collaboration with three Spanish figurative painters : Arnaiz, Crespo and
Felez, he begins a series of dreamlike paintings illustrating his life. Miró
visits him and he meets César and the artists from the "Nouveau Réalisme".
Publication of his collection of poems The Madness Stone,
(Julliard Ed., Paris).
1964
Victor Garcia very successfully stages several plays by Arrabal, followed
by Jorge Lavelli, Peter Brook, Jérôme Savary, Georges Vitaly... He begins
seeing Salvador Dalí who suggests to him that they write together a
cybernetic play...
1965
Publication of his plays The Grand Ceremonial, Ceremony for a
Murdered Black, (Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris), and Ceremony
for a Goat on a Cloud, (Daily Bul Ed.) and of his collection of poems A
Hundred Sonnets, (El Ultimo Parnaso Ed. Saragossa).
He receives the Lugné-Poë Prize for Theater, (France).
1966
He leaves his flat rue de Pergolèse and settles boulevard de Strasbourg.
Christian Bourgois becomes his regular publisher and publishes The Crowning
and Concert in an Egg. Publication of his novel Feasts and Rites
of Confusion, (Alfaguara Ed., Madrid, Barcelona). Yukio Mishima
invites him to Japan to attend the unique performance of his antihitlerian
play Hitler was right.
1967
He goes to Spain where he is arrested after writing a dedication considered
"blasphemous" to the government on a copy of his book Arrabal
Celebrating the Ceremony of Confusion. International protest by, among
others, Beckett, Mauriac, Ionesco, Miller.. soon leads to his release.
Publication of his plays The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria,
Impossible Loves, The Four Cubes, The Solemn Communion, Stripease of Jealousy,
Youth Illustrated, Has God Gone Mad?, (Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris).
Lavelli staged The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria which
achieves great success.
He receives the "Grand Prix du Théâtre", (France)
1973
Publication de ses livres Le Panique, (Ed. Union Générale
d'Edition, Paris) et Le New-York d'Arrabal, (Ed. Balland, Paris).
Voyage en Iran à Chiraz à l'occasion d'un spectacle de Bob Wilson. Aménage
dans l'appartement du 22 rue Jouffroy dans le 17ème arrondissement de Paris.
La représentation du Grand cérémonial au théâtre Opus de
Rome constitue un événement médiatique considérable en Italie.
1968
Publication of his plays Garden of Delights, Erotic Bestiality, A
Tortoise named Dostoevski, (Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris). He travels
in Mexico with Jim Morrison. He participates in the sit-in at the "Théâtre
de l'Odéon" and the Spanish Pavilion in Paris during the "May
events".
He receives the "Grand prix de l'Humour Noir", (France).
1969
Publication of his plays ...And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers,
Dawn : Red and Black (Groupuscule of my Heart; All the Perfumes of
Arabia; Under the Pavement the Beach; The Little Cages), The Lay of
Barabbas (TheCrowning), (Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris). Banning of
his plays in Spain by Franco's Police. Friendship with Pier Paolo Pasolini and
long discussions on theater.
1970
Birth of his daughter Lélia on January 14. Filming of Viva la muerte with
Nuria Esperts and Anouk Ferjac.
In February, Happening at the "Théâtre Plaisance" in Paris for the
publication of the journal Le théâtre 1969-2 (Grand- Guignol).
1971
Enthusiastic about Viva la muerte, John Lennon, goes to meet
him at the Cannes Festival, whistling the music of the film. Pablo Picasso
paints a work for him entitled Viva la vida and asks Luis Buñuel to
bring this gift to Arrabal. He moves and settles 2 rue de Vienne in the 8th
district of Paris.
Laurence Olivier, in charge of the National Theater in London, puts The
Architect and the Emperor of Assyria on his program. Arrabal now
attains a worldwide success.
1972
Birth of his son Samuel on July 15.
He directs I Will Go Like a Crazy Horse with Emmanuelle Riva and
Clark Shannon.
Publication of his two "Panic" operas Ars Amandi and God
Tempted by Mathematics, (Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris), of his plays Heaven
and Crap and The Twentieth Century Review, (Christian Bourgois Ed.,
Paris) and of his book Letter to General Franco, (Christian
Bourgois Ed., Paris). Clives Barnes writes a raving review about the play...And
They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers in the New York Times. He meets
TennesseeWilliams, Gore Vidal and Truman Capote during his stay in New York.
1973
Publication of the books The Panic , (Union Générale d'Édition,
Paris) and Arrabal's New York, (Balland Ed.,
Paris).
Travels to Chiraz in Iran to attend a performance by Bob Wilson. He moves into
the flat 22 rue Jouffroy in the 17th district of Paris.The performance of The
Grand Ceremonial at the Opus Theater in Roma creates a considerable
stir in Italian medias.
1974
He travels to Japan where one of his play is performed at the No Theater.
He then goes to the United States and gives many lectures in American
Universities (in California, at the Cornwell University, at the State
University of New York...).
Publication of his book About Fisher : Introduction to Chess,
(du Rocher Ed., Monaco).
1975
Filming of his third full-length film : The Guernica Tree
with Maria Angela Melato and Ron Faber.
Publication of his play Today's Young Barbarians,
(Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris).
1976
After the death of Franco, Arrabal is among the six Spanish personalities
prohibited from entering their own country, together with Rafael Alberti,
Santiago Carrillo, La Pasionaria, El Campesino and Lister.
Publication of his play The One Thousand Years War (Bella Ciao)
and On the High Wire or The Ballad of the Phantom Train,
(Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris).
He receives the "Obie Award" (Theater), (New York).
1977
First performance of Steal me a Million, the first of the
three vaudevilles constituing his Theater Bouffe. He gives a series of
lectures at the Toronto University.
1978
Publication of his plays The Tower of Babel (Oyez Patria mi
affliccion), The Royal March, An Orange on Mount Venus, The Pictorial
Glory, (Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris), of his collection of Theater
Bouffe including Steal me a Million, The Pastaga of the
Loufs or Orangoutan Opening and Punk and Punk and Colegram, (Christian
Bourgois Ed., Paris) and of his book Letter to the Spanish Communist
Militants, (Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris).
He directs a short film entitled Spain for the French TV channel "Antenne
2".
1979
Publication of his play Inquisición, (Don Quijote Ed.,
Granada).
Milko Kelemen and Edmund Kieselbach present Apokalyptica, a
ballet-opera inspired by an Arrabal's text.
1980
Publication of his plays My Devastated Sweet Kingdom, The
King of Sodome, Heaven and Crap II, (Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris),
and of his book Libertarian and Fairy Chess (Chronicles from the
magazine L'Express), (du Rocher Ed., Monaco).
He directs a new full-length film in Canada The Odyssey of the Pacific
with Mickey Rooney and Monique Leclerc.
1981
Filming of his fifth full-length film : The Automobile Graveyard
with Juliet Berto and Alain Bashung.
1982
Publication of his plays The Crazy Success of Jesus Christ, Karl Marx
and William Shakespeare and Stand up and Dream, (Christian Bourgois
Ed., Paris).
1983
Publication of his play The Mare Horse or Tribute to John Kennedy T.,
of his novel The Tower Struck by Lightning, (Grasset Ed., Paris)
and of his book Letter to Fidel Castro, (Christian Bourgois Ed.,
Paris).
He starts up an international campaign for the release of Cuban writers put in
jail by Castro, and among others Armando Valladares.
He is named "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres", (French
Distinction).
1985
Publication of his plays Love Breviary of a Weight Lifter,
Apokalyptica and The Centaurs' Charge, (Christian
Bourgois Ed., Paris), of his novel The Reverdie, (Christian
Bourgois Ed., Paris) and of his collection of poems Humbles Paradises,
(Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris).
1986
In Ciudad Rodrigo he makes a speech presenting the author of tales of
chivalry, Feliciano De Silva, as one of those who inspired Cervantes for his
Don Quichotte. Publication of his novel The Red Virgin, (Acropole
Ed., Paris).
Travels to Haiti where he meets the naïve painters.
Juan Carlos, King of Spain, awards him the "Medalla de Oro de las Bellas
Artes".
1987
He starts lecturing in Spain.
Jorge Camacho becomes his chess fellow.
1988
Publication of his plays The "Cucarachas" from Yale,
A Virgin for a Gorilla, The Red Madonna and The Crossing of the Empire,
(Christian Bourgois Ed., Paris) and of his novel King Kong's Daughter,
(Acropole Ed., Paris. He meets Garry Kasparov in Paris.
1989
Publication of his play The Crazy Crusade of an Obese Revolutionary,
(Phi Ed., Luxembourg) and of his novel The Crazy Crusade of a Castrato
in Love, (Ramsay Ed., Paris).
He directs a short film Chess and Myth for the French TV channel
"Antenne 2".
1990
Publication of his plays Night is Also a Sun and The Wheel of
Misfortune, (Actes Sud Ed.) and of his opera The Bastille Opera
(written for the bicentennial of the French Revolution).
1991
Simultaneous publications in five languages of his book
El Greco (The Frenetic of Spasm), (Flohic Ed.,
Paris).
He directs New York Babylone, a short film for the French TV
channel "Antenne 2".
In Maastrich (Netherlands), he denounces the violence and the massacres
against the Croatian population by the so-called "federal"Yugoslavian
army before the Representatives of the European Community and 26.000 Croatian
people living in various European countries.
1992
He directs his 6th full-length film Goodbye Babylon!, with
Spike Lee and Lélia Fischer.
Ante Glibota organizes at the Paris Art Center (Paris), the exhibition Arrabal
Espace, showing together nearly 800 works of art, objects, books and films
concerning Fernando Arrabal's life and work.
Publication of Works,Tome I (theater, poem, novel - book in
Italian), (Spirali Vel Ed., Milan) and of his books Francisco Goya -
Salvador Dalí, (Spirali Vel Ed., Milan and Studio di Val Cervo, Rome)
and Feasts and Defeats on the Chessboard, (L'Archipel Ed.,
Paris). Creation of "Lirac Galaxy", with a manifesto including 49
personalities and creators from the artistic, literary and scientific fields.
1993
Publication of his collections of poems Freedom Colour of Woman or
Goodbye Babylon Cinematographic Poems, (Rougerie Ed., Mortemart) and Arrabalesques
(Letters to Julius Baltazar), (Rougerie Ed., Mortemart) and of his books Genios
y Figuras, (Espasa Calpe Ed., Madrid) and Carta a José María
Aznar (con copia a Felipe González), (Espasa Calpe Ed., Madrid). He
receives the "Prix de Théâtre de l'Académie Française",
(France).
1994
Ante Glibota publishes an important monograph of 542 pages including 1810
illustrations, entitled Arrabal Espace, which sums up all the artistic
and literary creation by Fernando Arrabal until this date.
Publication of his plays Lully, Listen to the Sweet Night Walking
and The Uncontrolled Laughter of the Lilliputians, (Actes Sud
Ed.) and of his novels The Killer Woman from the Winter Garden,
(Ecriture Ed., Paris), El Mono o el Enganchado al Caballo, (Planeta
Ed., Barcelona) and La dudosa luz del día, (Espasa Calpe Ed.,
Madrid).
He receives the Gold Medal from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, the First
Prize "Théâtre au Pluriel" (France), the International Nabokov
Prize for Novel (Italy) and the "Premio Espasa de Ensayo" (Spain).
1995
He receives the First prize "Théâtre de la Roseraie" (France),
the Gold Medal of the "Círculo de Bellas Artes" (Spain),
the Gold Medal of the City of Melilla.
He is promoted "Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres",
(French Distinction).
Publication of his book Carta al Rey de España, (Espasa Calpe,
Madrid).
1996
Publication of his play Like a Lily Among Thorns, (Actes Sud
Ed.) and of his book A Slave named Cervantes, (Espasa Calpe Ed.,
Madrid and Plon Ed., Paris).
He receives the "Prix du Centre National du Livre", (France) and the
"Grand Prix de la Société des Gens de Lettres", (France).
Summer holidays in Ivan Dolac on the Hvar island.
1997
Publication of the Complete Theater, (2 volumes in Spanish),
(Espasa Calpe Ed., Madrid) and of his collection of poems Diez poemas pánicos
y un cuento, (Caja Sur y Rute Ed., Cordoba).
Edition of a compact disc of the opera Picknick im Felde, music
by Otfried Büsing, recorded with the Freiburg Orchestra, (Gravis Ed.).
He receives the "Grand Prix de la Ville d'Antibes", (France) and the
"Medal of the Center of French Civilization and Culture", (New York
University) and the Order of
"Marko Marulic", (Croatian State Distinction).
Summer holidays in Dubrovnik (Croatia) where the Theater Festival and the City
render him homage
1999
Publication of his plays Lettre d'amour et Comme un
supplice chinois, (Ed. Actes Sud).
He receives the "Alessandro Mazoni" di Poesia, (Italie).
Exposition Arrabal Espace at the Galerie de L'Essor, Le Sentier, Vallée
de Joux (Suisse).
Honorable guest of "Thespis'99" (Jerusalem International Festival of
University Theatre).
2000
Fernando Arrabals mother dies
BECKETT'S LETTER TO THE JUDGES OF SPAIN IN DEFENSE OF
ARRABAL IN 1967
(text edited in the book: GLIBOTA Ante, Arrabal
Espace, París P.A.C., 1993)
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