Griselda Gambaro is an Argentine writer, whose novels, plays, short stories, story tales, essays and novels for teenagers often concern the political violence in her home country that would develop into the Dirty War. One recurring theme is the desaparecidos and the attempts to recover their bodies and memorialize them. Her novel Ganarse la muerte was banned by the government because of the obvious political message. Gambaro is Argentina's most celebrated playwright, and she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1982, as well as many other prizes.
The Impenetrable Madam X. Novel. Translated by Evelyn Picon Garfield. by Griselda Gambaro
Information For Foreigners by Griselda Gambaro and Marguerite Feitlowitz. Contains 3 plays: The Walls, Information for Foreigners, and, Antigona Furiosa. Edited, Translated and with an Introduction by Marguerite Feitlowitz. With an afterwortd by Diana Taylor
In October 1981Internationalist Theatre launched its English language premiere of Gambaro`s The Camp in London to coincide with the publication of IADA on the cultural repression by the Argentine regime, and also provided a list of disappeared artists and intellectuals.The play has been described "as coming from the allegorical theatre of oppression, written in a society in which brutality and censorship suppress democracy". Gambaro herself went into self-imposed exile after the banning of her novel "Ganarse la Muerte"
In September 2011 'The Siamese Twins 'translated by Gwen MacKeith had its UK premiere directed by Mara Lockowandt and Jorge Perez Falconi for the Silver Lining Theatre and performed at Theatro Technis. Jonathan Lovett for The Stage stated: "Receiving a worthy tribute, in its long overdue UK premiere, this atmospheric production succeeds in weaving comedy into menace, and vice versa, helped by Kostas Panagiotou’s evocative score". "Brilliantly capturing a period of mistrust and state-sponsored violence, she turned to the story of Cain and Abel, depicting one brother destroying another while adding some deeply unsavoury characters on the side of the police."
"Though Siamese Twins was first produced in 1967, before the worst excesses of the Argentinean Dirty War and the abduction and often murder of the "Disappeared", for long periods the country had had authoritarian regimes. One cannot help wondering whether the first audiences for this play would have identified the menacing figures who appear in it with particular political or public faces. On one hand this play is an outcry and a prescient warning about this the misuse of authority and fearful acquiescence before it and on the other a picture of the exploitation, cruelty and even torture that even partners or siblings can inflict upon each other." Howard Loxton for the British Theatre Guide
In 4 July 1991 'Putting Two and Two Together' by Gambaro translated by Nick Drake was given its UK premiere at the Royal Court Theatre directed by James McDonald. No reviews are currently available.
Selected works in Spanish
Madrigal en ciudad. Tales. Ed. Goyanarte, Buenos Aires, 1963.
El Desatino. Tales. Emecé Editores, Buenos Aires, 1965.
Una felicidad con menos pena. Novel. Ed. Sudamericana, Buenos Aires, 1967.
El Campo. Play, 1967.
Nada que ver con otra historia. Novel. Ediciones Noé, Buenos Aires, 1972; 2ª ed, Torres Agüero Editor, Buenos Aires, 1987.
Conversaciones con chicos. Sobre la sociedad, los padres, los afectos, la cultura. Timerman Editores, 1976; Ediciones Siglo XX, 1983.
Ganarse la muerte. Novel. Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1976.
Dios no nos quiere contentos. Novel. Ed. Lumen, Barcelona, 1979.
Lo impenetrable. Novela. Torres Agüero Editor, Buenos Aires, 1984 and 1988.
Teatro 1. Including the plays "Real envido", "La malasangre" y "Del sol naciente". Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1997.
Teatro 2. Plays: "Dar la vuelta", "Información para extranjeros", "Puesta en claro" y "Sucede lo que pasa". Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1995.
Teatro 3. "Viaje de invierno", "Nosferatu", "Cuatro ejercicios para actrices", "Acuerdo para cambiar de casa","Sólo un aspecto", "La gracia", "El miedo", "El nombre", "El viaje a Bahía Blanca", "El despojamiento", "Decir sí" and "Antígona furiosa". Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1997.
Teatro 4. "Las paredes", "El desatino", "Los siameses", "El campo" y "Nada que ver". Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1990.
Teatro 5. "Efectos personales", "Desafiar al destino", "Morgan" and "Penas sin importancia". Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1991.
Teatro 6. "Atando cabos", "La casa sin sosiego", "Es necesario entender un poco". Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1996.
Después del día de fiesta. Novel. Editorial Seix Barral, Buenos Aires, 1994.
Escritos inocentes. Essays. Grupo Editorial Norma, Buenos Aires, 1999.
El mar que nos trajo. Novel. Griselda Gambaro, Editorial Norma, Buenos Aires, 2002.
Teatro . Grupo Editorial Norma, Buenos Aires, 2002.
Promesas y desvaríos. Novel. Grupo Editorial Norma, Buenos Aires, 2004.
Teatro 7. Plays: "No hay normales", "En la columna", "Pisar el palito", "Para llevarle a Rosita", "Cinco ejercicios para un actor", "Almas". Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 2004.
A nadar con María Inés. Novel. Griselda Gambaro, Editorial Alfaguara, Buenos Aires, 2005.
