A New Drama

In 1867 Tamayo y Baus premiered in Madrid, Spain, causing a sensation and sending shockwaves the world over. The play was aptly titled A New Drama, for it broke with all the theatrical conventions of its time.

Most of the drama takes place backstage at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, where a new play is being rehearsed. Yorick, a successful actor who stars in Shakespeare’s comedies, has decided that he will play the dramatic lead in the upcoming play. Shakespeare attempts to discourage him, for he knows that the new drama mirrors Yorick’s life: the lead character is unaware that his new young wife and his son are having a secret affair. Suspicions arise as the mystery into what is truth and what is fantasy deepens. The various story lines collide during the opening night performance of the "new" drama. The play has one of the most memorable and shocking endings in history.

A New Drama has gone on to influence countless other works: Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, the opera Pagliacci by Leoncavallo, etc. This new translation by Mark-Brian Sonna re-invigorates the dynamism and simplicity of the language of the original manuscript, which was lost due to the sensibilities of translators in the Victorian era.