Las Barandillas del cielo (the Balustrade in the sky) – subtitled “comédia para guiñol” (puppet play) – is a very short play for children. It can be said to fit in the Teatro de Urgencia movement, for which the Alianza de Intelectuales Antifascistas headed by José Bergamín, María Teresa León and Rafael Alberti commissioned authors. The play is written in regular romance and romancillo verses, and in a sophisticated language which combines poetry, fantasy and militant action. The author sketched a set design on the manuscript: the globe the child travels on floats on a sky-blue background, with silver stars and under them a spherical Earth centred on Spain. A group of clouds and a silver balustrade then appear.

The play was written in Barcelona during the Civil War. It was found among the author’s manuscripts at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid. It was published in 2006 by the Asociación de Directores de Escena de España along with other works for children, which were written in London and also published for the first time. But they were not puppet plays.

The fact that angels and demons join forces to defend freedom and democracy in Spain is meaningful within the cultural philosophy of the Spanish Republic.

A child escapes the war in Spain on a globe. He reaches the clouds and, soon enough, the sky. He means to relate outside Earth what is happening in his country, and to ask for help so that democracy and freedom, which are being threatened, prevail in Europe.

He starts a conversation with the stars, which are aware of the state of things, then with an angel, a small planet and a joyful and friendly demon. Together, they summon the stars, armies of angel warriors and legions of demons to protect the world against the evil which is tearing Spain and Europe apart.