This article explores the pervasive use of humour in the plays of José García Lora (1920-1989), which combine satirical critique of political violence and injustice with more troubling shifts in tone towards slapstick and farce that clash with the more tragic themes of suffering and trauma. Beginning by discussing the “unhomely play” that characterises Tierra cautiva
(1962), and why this aspect of his work is so difficult to metabolise, I will go on to present an overview of Lora’s use of humour across his period as a playwright, before reflecting in more depth on its (non)place in his particular navigation of experiences of the post-war period and
exile. The aim is to better understand Lora’s creative process as well as to contribute to reflection on the unhomely character of exile production, and particularly of exile theatre,
caught between its impossible public dimension and its inevitable politicization of the private.