SOURCE: "Xavier Villaurrutia: The Development of His Theater," in Hispania, Vol. XLIII, No. 4, December, 1960, pp. 508-14.

In the following essay, Moreno chronicles Villaurrutia's career as a playwright, and examines some of his principal themes.

Rafael Solana, an outstanding contemporary Mexican dramatist and critic, remarked shortly after Villaurrutia's death that the Sociedad de Autores and whoever else loved the man should do something to perpetuate his name. As one who admired him, I wish to contribute this appraisal of his dramatic works to that end.

According to the surviving members of his family, Villaurrutia was a precocious child, who learned to read at the age of three, and at an early age entertained his brothers and sisters with puppet shows for which he himself wrote the scripts, handled the marionettes, and painted the scenery.¹ During his very active membership in the group known as the Contemporáneous he contributed...