Theatre
Como en Santiago
Not translated into English
Daniel Barros Grez · 1875
Opening lines
Doña Ruperta
Ines! ¿Qué bulla es esa?
Inés! What is that racket?
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from memoriachilena.gob.cl
Synopsis
In a provincial town, a middle-class family dreams of the manners of the capital. Ruperta, the mother, is a social climber; Victoriano, her husband, has a weak character and is mainly concerned with municipal affairs. Their daughter Dorotea has been engaged for years to Silverio, son of don Manuel, while Inés, Victoriano's orphaned niece, loves Silverio in secret. The deputy Faustino Quintalegre arrives from Santiago: after a ball, he asks for Dorotea's hand, which her mother urges her to accept; don Manuel, for his part, distrusts the visitor.
Context
The comedy, in three acts, dates from 1875. The reading guide of the Chilean school curriculum regards it as one of the fundamental works of the nineteenth century and as the most frequently staged of its author's plays. It mocks provincial social climbing and the desire to imitate the capital, and contrasts the countryside with the city, sincerity with greed. The journal Apuntes de Teatro ranks it among the author's two sociopolitical plays; Julio Durán Cerda included it in 1959 in his Panorama del teatro chileno.
Who it is for
A comedy of manners in three acts, quick to read, in an old Chilean Spanish; no translation.
Prizes and reception
For Apuntes de Teatro, a play that ridicules and satirises without shaking things up too much, entertaining despite superficial characters.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.