Two years before the successful undertaken task of adapting 'Madness of love', director Juan de Orduña resorted to another play by Manuel Tamayo y Baus, in this case 'A new drama' (and somewhat pretentious, we might add). Set in London in 1605, it shows the preparations for a play at the Globe. It is a drama of honor that, all things considered, perhaps it seems more from the pen of Calderón de la Barca instead of a young playwright disciple of Shakespeare.
The truth is that the comic Yorick (played by Mexican actor Roberto Font) strives to interpret no matter what it costs the role of Count Octavio, the cuckolded husband, despite his dramatic skills are rather low. In order to achieve it, he doesn't doubt to curry favor with Shakespeare inviting him to drink in his room a delicious Spanish wine, but must also overcome opposition from Walton (Manuel Luna), the main actor of the company that watches helplessly how they are snatching such a precious role from him.
The really funny thing is that what happens on stage raises striking parallels with what is happening in real life and, for example, infidelity plot simultaneously has its counterpart among the actors who play them, with all the ambiguities that it raises. It's something premeditated that was conceived by Tamayo y Baus and Juan de Orduña knows masterfully how to translate to the screen. 'A new drama' is played to confuse us and, if not, see how Walton appears dressed as a monk in the first scene: it was not until a little later that we will know it is a disguise with which has been characterized to play a character in another staging. Or in the end, when the audience attending the performance is full of praise for how well plays Yorick without realizing that he is not really declaiming but lamenting.
In the technical section, highlights the detailed sets of always remarkable Sigfrid Burman, capable of recreating the Elizabethan London very convincingly and the meticulous work on period costumes designed by José Dhoy and made by Cornejo. Also Guillermo Goldberger and Alfonso Nieva, camera operators under the command of Juan de Orduña, perform a commendable job with their continuous and complex travelings and dolly zooms, like for instance the one that follows the fluctuations by Mary Rosa while dancing the saraband at the banquet.
As you see, there are many elements that can stand out from an atypical production which contradicts the notion that the Spanish historical films of the forties are only concerned with mystify the deeds of their national heroes.
