René Marqués
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René Marqués (October 4, 1919-March 22, 1979) born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, was a renowned short story writer and playwright.
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[edit] Early years
Marqués was raised and educated in Arecibo. He developed an interest in writing at a young age and was politically inclined towards the idea of Puerto Rican independence.
In the 1940s, Marqués wrote what is considered to be his best play, "La Carreta" (The Oxcart). In 1951, the "Oxcart" opened in San Juan and helped secure his reputation as a leading literary figure in Puerto Rico. The drama traces a rural Puerto Rican family as it moved to the slums of San Juan and then to New York in search for a better life, but later returned to Puerto Rico.
[edit] The Generation of the 40's
René Marques was a member of what was known in Puerto Rico as "The Generation of the 40's". This was a group of intellectuals headed by Lorenzo Homar. In 1950, together with the other members of the group, Marques worked for the Department of Community Education of Puerto Rico. Marques however, did often come into conflict with Luis Muñoz Marín. He believed in complete Puerto Rican sovereignty and he often criticized Muñoz Marín, when he became governor, because of his acceptance of U.S. sovereignty over Puerto Rico.
In 1954, Puerto Rican director, Roberto Rodríguez, produced the "Oxcart", the play opened at the Church of San Sebastian, located in Manhattan, New York. The success of the play motivated Miriam Colon and Rodriguez to form the first Hispanic theater group with its own 60 seat theater, called "El Círculo Dramatico" (The Drama Circuit).
In 1959, Marqués published three plays together in the collection "Teatro" (Theater). These were "La Muerte no entrará el Palacio" (Death will not enter the Palace), "Un Niño Azul para una Sombra" (A Blue Boy for a Shadow) and " Los Soles Truncos". In an essay (1960), which the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party published as a pamphlet, Marqués addressed the problem of the language of instruction in Puerto Rico's colonial situation. He concluded that only the enjoyment of complete national sovereignty will cleanse the pedagogical problem of all extra-pedagogical bagggage.
[edit] Later years
In 1965, George Edgar and Stella Holt produced the English version of Marqués' "The Oxcart" Off-Broadway, with Miriam Colon in the lead role.
René Marqués died in San Juan on March 22, 1979. Puerto Rico has named a school in his honor and in the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan, there is a 760 seat René Marqués Theater.
