Abstract

Hamelin is a small city in Germany which is known for the background of ‘the Pied Piper of Hamelin.’ In the story, a piper comes to town, playing his pipe and driving out the troublesome rats in return for payment. However, after successfully clearing out the rats, the townfolk broke their promise to pay him. As a result, he lured entire city’s children away by playing his pipe again. The story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin became a widely loved fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm and Robert Browning as they re-wrote it in 1812 and 1842 respectively. Juan Mayorga, one of the representative Spanish modern playwrights, was also interested in this story and wrote his play, Hamelin (2005). Through this tragic story, Mayorga highlights greed and the irresponsible attitude of the adults who broke their promises. In addition, he called attention to the problem of child sexual abuse in our society by using his theatrical imagination. In order to lead the audience’s focus to the story’s topic, the writer used Brecht’s epic theatrical technique, giving the audience distance from the story. While examining diversity in contents and types in modern Spanish plays, this study aims to expand the research territory of it.

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