The Pretender

It’s a strange new world, indeed! Who knows what is true? As seventeenth-century Spain experiences the growing pains of change, discovery, and globalism, playwright Juan Ruiz de Alarcón exploits the public’s receptiveness with the ultimate gaslighting romance. Alarcón’s protagonist tests the loyalty of his beloved by pretending to be Cousin Diego from Flanders. Strangely, and uniquely in Spanish drama, there is no costume involved in the trickery-only lies and disinformation. Even close friends and family believe the lie (or do they?) ... and who learns the lesson? With this new translation, the team at UCLA’s Center for 17th and 18th Century Studies brings Alarcón’s play El semejante a sí mismo to an English-speaking audience.

Translated by the UCLA Working Group on the Comedia in Translation and Performance.

This volume is part of the Diversifying the Classics project at UCLA, which seeks to foster awareness and appreciation of the Hispanic Golden Age and give theater professionals the materials and tools to explore its rich tradition. For more information, visit the UCLA project on the web:

http: //diversifyingtheclassics.humanities.ucla.edu/