La Carreta
| Author | René Marqués |
|---|---|
| Country | Puerto Rico |
| Language | Spanish |
| Genre | Dramatic play |
|
Publication date
|
1953 |
| Media type |
La Carreta (English: The Oxcart) is a 1953 play by Puerto Rican playwright René Marqués. The story follows a family of "jíbaros" or rural peasants that in an effort to find better opportunities end up moving to the United States (see Puerto Rican migration to New York).
The story is divided in three acts, each focusing on a specific location. The first act begins with the family preparing to move from the countryside to San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico, in search of a "better life". The second act takes place a year later in San Juan, specifically in La Perla slum, where the family has moved. The final act takes place yet another year apart, in The Bronx, New York, where the family has ended, looking for a better life.
A recent production of the play in Puerto Rico starred Johanna Rosaly in the role of Gabriela. It was performed on March 2009 in Caguas and Santurce in Puerto Rico and then in September and October in Mayaguez and Santurce. The show was produced by New Moon Productions and directed by Pablo Cabrera.
Act I takes place in an unidentified mountainous region outside of San Juan. The family—Doña Gabriela, Luis, Juanita, and Chaguito, are packing for their move to San Juan. There is a great deal of tension in this scene as the family remembers nostalgically its traditions as they break away from them. Don Chago, the grandfather, refuses to move, and unbeknownst to the family, intends to live out his days in the solitude of a cave. He is Marqués personified in his love of the land and his attitude against industrial development. He blames his deceased son-in-law for the family’s inability to keep up with the mortgage payments and the subsequent loss of the farm. Luis, technically the head of the family now that his father has died, decides that a move to the city will bring prosperity to the family, and they unquestioningly follow out his wishes. In reality, Luis is the son of his father and another woman, but is accepted totally by Doña Gabriela, who cautiously guards this “secret” from him, not realizing that he indeed knows. Luis’ strong determination to secure a better life for his family in a mechanized world can be seen almost as overcompensation for the gratitude he feels as an undeserving stepchild who enjoys the rights and privileges of a blood-relative. Juanita is ambivalent about the move as a local farmer, Miguel, is now courting her. Her mother worries about the sexual implications of this relationship and is relieved to know that it will be severed by their move.
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