The Impostor A Play for Demagogues

A failed history professor hoping to advance his career tries to capitalize on his extensive knowledge of the Mexican Revolution and its leaders in this play, which enjoyed enormously popular success after its 1948 publication and continues to attract contemporary audiences. El gesticulador (The Impostor) is regarded by literary historians as the play that signaled the start of modern Mexican drama. Set in 1930s post-revolutionary Mexico, its basic ingredients are history and myth, honesty and duplicity, truth and falsehood as well as political intrigue, corruption, party politics and the social dynamics of the Mexican family. Considered by some as an ill-disguised attack against Mexican values and traditions and especially against the Revolution and the party in power, the play was rejected and criticized by government officials and labor leaders while still enjoying popularity. Because of its treatment of Mexico's cultural traits and the universality of its themes, El gesticulador has retained currency and relevance through the years and has been translated into several languages.