The ten essays in this volume examine the survival of Spain's once famous Classical tradition and linguistic barriers. The essays are grouped into two parts: Reception and Interpretation and Translating the Theatrical Experience.

This book examines the questions “What can science do for the theatre?” and “What can the theatre do for science?” which raise challenges for both theatre professionals and scientists. Unusually, this book deals with plays first and foremost as reading material — as texts to be read alone or in dramatic readings — rather than emphasizing performances on the stage. Concrete examples are given to demonstrate the potential pedagogic value of using the dialogic style and plot structure of plays in science, with a special focus on chemistry.Very few books have dealt with the subject of science-in-theatre and virtually none with chemistry-in-theatre. Texts of the author's two recent plays, Insufficiency and Phallacy, are included in their entirety to offer concrete examples of plays dealing with actual (rather than invented) chemistry. Insufficiency represents an example from the field of beer and champagne bubbles, where the topics of academic tenure and fashion in chemistry are analyzed, whereas in Phallacy, a case history of the similarities and differences between science and art is presented for debate./a

On August 4, 1578, in an ill-conceived attempt to wrest Morocco back from the hands of the infidel Moors, King Sebastian of Portugal led his troops to slaughter and was himself slain. Sixteen years later, King Sebastian rose again. In one of the most famous of European impostures, Gabriel de Espinosa, an ex-soldier and baker by trade—and most likely under the guidance of a distinguished Portuguese friar—appeared in a Spanish convent town passing himself off as the lost monarch. The principals, along with a large cast of nuns, monks, and servants, were confined and questioned for nearly a year as a crew of judges tried to unravel the story, but the culprits went to their deaths with many questions left unanswered. Ruth MacKay recalls this conspiracy, marked both by scheming and absurdity, and the legal inquest that followed, to show how stories of this kind are conceived, told, circulated, and believed. She reveals how the story of Sebastian, supposedly in hiding and planning to return to claim his crown, was lodged among other familiar stories: prophecies of returned leaders, nuns kept against their will, kidnappings by Moors, miraculous escapes, and monarchs who die for their country. As MacKay demonstrates, the conspiracy could not have succeeded without the circulation of news, the retellings of the fatal battle in well-read chronicles, and the networks of rumors and correspondents, all sharing the hope or belief that Sebastian had survived and would one day return. With its royal intrigues, ambitious artisans, dissatisfied religious women, and corrupt clergy, The Baker Who Pretended to Be King of Portugal will undoubtedly captivate readers as it sheds new light on the intricate political and cultural relations between Spain and Portugal in the early modern period and the often elusive nature of historical truth.