Carlos Arniches Barreda (11 October 1866 – 16 April 1943)"Arniches (y Barrera), Carlos" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 577. was a Spanish playwright, born in Alicante. His prolific work, drawing on the traditions of the

género chico Género chico (literally, "little genre") is a Spanish genre of short, light plays with music. It is a major branch of ''zarzuela'', Spain's form of popular music theatre with dialogue, and differs from ''zarzuela grande'' and most other operatic f ...

, the

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...

and the

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

, came to dominate the Spanish comic theatre in the early twentieth century. After starting his career as a novelist and journalist, Arniches turned to theatre in 1888 with the publication of his first play, ''Casa editorial''. Much of his work is set in lower-class Madrid and uses colloquial language, song, dance and music. Arniches was complimented in a 1935 interview by

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

, often a scathing critic of contemporary Spanish theatre, as 'more of a poet than almost any of those who are writing theatre in verse at the moment'. Following the end of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, the social dramas of Carlos Arniches were among the relatively non-controversial plays allowed by the new government.Vilches de Frutos 1999, p. 513

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