Spain came to Ledbury last Friday, with the ghost of the murdered poet Lorca, who assured us, "All should know I have not died".

Judging by the popularity of the Born Between Mirrors event in the Market Theatre, the writer's prophesy is a true one, all the more remarkable because the line was written some time before his execution by Fascist sympathisers at the start of the Spanish Civil War

The theatre was packed. In fact, people were being turned away, and stewards searched in vain for seats.

Those lucky enough to be there were treated to a spectacle of drama, music and flamenco that did not disappoint and frequently delighted.

Lorca has become, effectively, the national poet of Spain, and it is not difficult to see why. The mix of the original Spanish with English translations worked well. The excerpt from Lorca's elegy, Homage to Ignacio Sanchez Mejias was awesome, with the dancer Mila Soler dressed as the bullfighter Mejias, while stamping with the insistence of death as the bull. Mejias, of course, died as a result of injuries sustained in the ring.

It was all very powerful stuff, full of unforgiving landscapes and fates.

The Catalan guitarist Alain Montblanch was truly inspiring, and Tobias Munthe read the words of Lorca to perfection, and with great passion. For an encore he danced with Mila Soler, and was not overawed by a lady who is clearly a ruling queen of flamenco, and at the very height of her powers.

Gary Bills-Geddes