Juan Rana en entremeses portugueses: "Dos caras siendo una" y "Um soldado e sua patrona", de Manuel Coelho Rebelo
Juan Rana in Portuguese Entremeses: Dos caras siendo una and Um soldado e sua patrona, by Manuel Coelho Rebelo

Summary/Abstract: Cosme Pérez was not only one of the most famous actors of the Golden Age (applauded both in the courtyards of comedies and in the Court), but also the creator of a mask that would come to supplant his identity: Juan Rana, a peasant mayor, who was widely mocked in diff erent ways by contemporary authors who dedicated to him entremeses (‘interludes’). Given that critical studies on the person and character abound, our intention is to highlight lesser-known circumstances, such as the fact that Cosme Pérez lived in Lisbon and that Juan Rana starred in two entremeses by the only Portuguese playwright, Manuel Coelho Rebelo, who signs his own collection: Musa entretenida de varios entremeses (Lisbon, 1658). Dos caras siendo una is written in Spanish and Um soldado e sua patrona in Portuguese, and the name even changes to João Rana, proof that he was a well-known fi gure. Both trace similar plots around a love triangle drawn by cunning and mockery. However, a surprising and novel characteristic distinguishes them and separates them from the Castilian entremeses: Juan Rana will no longer be deceived or end up battered, but instead plays a diff erent role from the one that had given him fame, thus reversing the order of the world of the entremeses. In Portugal, Coelho Rebelo proves to be capable of escaping from the stereotype and leading a mask as famous as the actor who embodied it down new and unexpected paths.

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