Set in 1817 and based entirely on true events, this play is an allegory of the brutal political repression and crippling poverty that Portuguese writer Sttau Monteiro experienced in his country under the Fascist regime. The play tells of a woman’s attempts to save her lover, General Gomes Freire de Andrade, from execution by a corrupt government, church and military.

Written in 1961, this controversial play was banned in Portugl until 1974 and did not recieve it’s premiere until 1978.