Musicalized Metatheater: The Bolero as Intertext in Quíntuples by Luis Rafael Sánchez

Abstract

The present article analyzes the ways in which the drama Quíntuples (1984) by Puerto Rican playwright Luis Rafael Sánchez uses the bolero as an important intertext. The essay traces the parallels between the bolero as a culturally syncretistic musical genre and Quíntuples as a fusion of dramatic and narrative elements. The play’s narrative elements include the incorporation of an author figure, monologue, and metaliterary comments. This article examines how spectator and reader involvement in Quíntuples relates to the bolerista’s affective communication with the audience. The analysis focuses on the three most ostentatiously melodramatic characters, who reveal connections to the entertainment industry and enact different characteristics of the bolero: Dafne, Mandrake, and Papá Morrison. The article ultimately explores how the characters deconstruct the act of performing, inviting readers to reflect on the nature of theater and the necessary complicity between actor and spectator, writer and reader.