José Zorrilla wrote Don Juan Tenorio, the 19th-century Spanish play often performed around the Day of the Dead.
Zorrilla’s romantic drama premiered in 1844 and retells the older European Don Juan legend. Its plot includes seduction, duels, murder, ghosts, a cemetery, supernatural appearances, and the possibility of spiritual redemption. Those themes made it especially suited to performances connected with All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day, and Mexico’s Día de Muertos.
The play became a recurring seasonal tradition in both Spain and Mexico. In Mexico, November performances became especially established during the late 19th century, and productions are still staged in connection with Day of the Dead festivities. The drama’s ending differs sharply from the bleak fate found in some earlier Don Juan versions: Zorrilla gives Don Juan a chance at repentance and salvation through Doña Inés.
A common mix-up is confusing Zorrilla with Tirso de Molina. Tirso created an earlier and highly influential Don Juan play, El burlador de Sevilla, but Don Juan Tenorio is Zorrilla’s work.