Of course, nobody needs to queer up Federico García Lorca. Though the great Spanish poet and playwright struggled mightily to keep his homosexuality a secret during his lifetime, we now know that he had heartbreaking affairs with men, including the surrealist Salvador Dalí and sculptor Emilio Aladrén, both of whom left him for their future wives.

Lorca often wrote about impossible love. His first, not-so-successful play, The Curse of the Butterfly (1919-1920) had the insect beauty in a doomed affair with a cockroach.  The House of Bernard Alba, written just before Lorca’s death at the hands of the fascist regime in 1936, is a classic study of overpowering longing and destructive desire. All the characters are women, all longing for a man they can’t have.

This month at the Abanico Theatre in Coconut Grove, Havanafama presents Bernarda Bernarda, a version of the play dapted by Cuban director Juan Roca for an all-male cast, billed as “more controversial and more profound.” Apparently, neither the company’s ad, nor the Spanish-language media, dare speak the name of Lorca’s love. Recent previews in El Nuevo Herald and Radio Caracol make no mention of the central feature of Roca’s adaptation.

As so often happens in Lorca’s work, what is most powerful is what’s left unsaid.

Bernarda Bernarda runs through September 20; Friday and Saturday  at 9:00 p.m., and Sundays at 6:00 p.m.  Tickets cost $25; students, senior citizens, and groups, $15. Proceeds benefit Academy of Arts & Minds theater and film programs. Abanico Theatre, 3138 Commodore Plaza, Coconut Grove; 305-44801105; www.abanicotheater.com.