(Crying) The public is going to see me. The theater is going to fall.
Until which point the author, or director, is showing himself in this play? The dilemma of revealing oneself through art is a timeless one. If one reveals himself, he or she becomes part of the work of art, but is one ready to summit to such a trial? The question of the public being ready to appreciate such a portrait has been asked by many artists, from Lord Byron to Oscar Wilde, and, it can be said that, sadly, the answer has been not a positive one for many of them.
How did Romeo pee? Is it not beautiful to see Romeo peeing?
Lorca questions what is the important thing in theater, what is that which deserves our attention. Maybe for me is to see Romeo peeing, for others is to see Juliet naked, and for a particular Director it might be to be sure that the hairstyle of his protagonist is beautiful enough. But of course, Lorca cannot please everybody, so here it is questioned by a wide range of his public.
What should I do with the public if I remove the railing of the bridge?
Lorca in this play, in a very surrealistic manner, pushes the reader, or the public in this case, to make a great effort to obtain the gist of what he is saying, and after all, one cannot be sure. So, how many of the public will follow him through the bridge almost unaided? Why one couldn’t just say the things straight? Well, in the period of Lorca’s The Public, it was not allowed to have certain opinions — being open about homosexuality for instance — so one had to camouflage them with symbols and other devices. But not only for that, but also for aesthetics purposes. In the end, the message will arrive to the ones it should arrive, leaving the uninterested and lazy behind with Lorca’s cryptical filters.
Is by breaking all the doors the only way that has the drama to justify itself.
Why did Lorca write? What was his goal? That is a question that every author has asked himself. Many answers have been given, from consolidate the faith in God to convinced your partner you love him or her. However, Lorca suggests, like many contemporary artists, that the reason to write or create is to bring destruction, questioning and criticism to old beliefs, to conventions and prejudices; breaking all the doors in a society then, the old fashion Spain of the thirties, very repressive in order to shed some light to important problems underlying.
