The Guadalajara Reporter

Brits to adapt Rulfo book into opera

A classic piece of literature by acclaimed Jalisco writer Juan Rulfo is being adapted for performance at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden, with the premiere planned for 2013.

British composer Stephan McNeff and director Frederic Wake-Walker are working on an opera based on Rulfo’s 1955 short novel “Pedro Paramo.” The book details protagonist Juan Preciado’s search for his father, which leads him to a town inhabited by ghosts.

Born and raised in Jalisco, Rulfo is one of Latin America’s most esteemed authors, although his reputation rests on just two short works: the aforementioned novel and 1953’s “El Llano en Llamas.”

“Rulfo is not well known in Britain, which is scandalous, because he should be,” said McNeff.

McNeff said Rulfo “talks about Mexico at a specific time, but there are universal themes in his writing. What makes Dickens a great writer is that his writing was set in London, but it was very universal. What Rulfo wrote in Pedro Paramo could take place anywhere.”