Granny and the Heist / La estanquera de Vallecas

Stuart Green is Senior Lecturer in Spanish at the University of Leeds, where he teaches and researches on the performing arts in modern Spain. He has published on a range of topics, including the ethics of racial humour and blackface performance, dialogues between cinema and theatre, and Afro-Spanish rap artists. He is interested in practical theatre and translation, and has attended a variety of courses in British and Spanish theatres to this end. Lucy Meyer is Head of Modern Foreign Languages at Bexley Grammar School, a language specialist school whose department offers 7 languages from KS3 to KS5, and where the study of two languages is compulsory to GCSE. An IB and AQA examiner, Lucy is also the Spanish Stream Designer for the Prince’s Teaching Institute, and in school has previously held positions as Lead Teacher of KS3 and KS4. Her main pedagogical interests lie in pupil use of Target Language, culture in the classroom, and the development of initiatives that raise the profile of languages.

• IntroductionThere’s no-one quite like Grandma 1Vallecas: from village to neighbourhood and on stage 2Plot summary 5Alonso de Santos and the theatre of his time: playwritingand politics 7La estanquera de Vallecas: a blend of sainete and the picaresque 13Characters 20Premiere(s): critical and commercial reaction 28Notes on the translation 32Acknowledgements 35Translator's Note 35Bibliography 36La estanquera de Vallecas / The Granny and the Heist 39Teaching ResourcesIntroduction 138Addressing any concerns 139Teaching and learning objectives 140Skills activities 142Speaking 142Listening 151Reading 153Writing 155Research project 159Performance 160Lesson sequence 163Entrevista con Beatriz Bergamín /Interview with Beatriz Bergamín 166Transcriptions of videoclips 172Photographs from the 1985 stage production 176Sample student work 178Answers to questions 189