The Cradle Song

Theatre play

The Cradle Song [Canción de cuna] by Gregorio Martínez Sierra (1881-1947) and Maria Martinez Sierra [more information]

Play synopsis

'The Cradle Song has as its setting a Convent of Enclosed Dominican Nuns in Spain and throughout there is no departure from the peacefulness and contentment of the convent. It is the atmosphere of the cloisters, and all is in complete contrast to the outside world which, though spoken of frequently, is never seen. The whole essence of the play is its simplicity and superb dignity, its warmth and humanity - from the opening scene, when a woman of the streets, penniless and unable to provide for her new-born baby, abandons the helpless infant in its swaddling clothes on the threshold of the convent’ (The Scanner, ‘The Cradle in the Convent’, Radio Times, 18 July 1947, p. 29).

Production history

Written in 1911.

Date of transmission

Friday 11 April 1958

Channel

ITV

Production company

Associated Television (ATV, 1955-1982)

Credits

Playwright

Gregorio Martínez Sierra (1881-1947)

Playwright

Maria Martinez Sierra

Additional details

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

Christianity; religious order; Spain, as theme or setting