Elio Cruz - Gibraltarian Playwright, artist and composer
Elio Cruz (1931-2019) was a Gibraltarian playwright who wrote in English and what we in Gibraltar call, ‘llanito’ which is a dialect. Mr Cruz is responsible for creating two of the most successful plays staged in Gibraltar in the 1960s: ‘La Lola Se Va Pa Londre’ and ‘Connie Con Cama Camera en el Comedor’.
When my dear friend Patrick Sacarello asked me whether I’d like to attend an event to commemorate Elio Cruz’s life’s work, I was delighted.
The event was opened by the Hon Chief Minister of Gibraltar and was very well attended. The displays of black and white photographs and later colour photographs of some of the actors staging his plays, the artistic posters and the extracts of the scripts were a delight to see. Many of the actors were also in attendance at the event, such as Jean Lavary, Sonia Golt, Aida Barea and Cecil Gomez
What I didn’t know about Elio Cruz was that he penned the heart-felt Gibraltar anthem, ‘Llevame Donde Naci’ – ‘Take Me To Where I Was born’, which is a song that was sung at the time of the Gibraltarians' evacuation from Gibraltar to far off places such as London, Jamaica, Ireland and Madeira, during World War II. It is a song still sang today whenever Gibraltar is celebrating or coming together in hard times.
Another surprise for me was that Elio Cruz was also an artist. His colourful paintings felt relevant even today though they were painted decades ago.
Even if the event was celebrated posthumously, Elio Cruz’s work is very much still alive. I am grateful to the organisers for putting together such a wonderful testimony to a truly multi-talented artist whose work lives on in his plays, art and music.