Villanueva de los Infantes rescues an auto sacramental from the Golden Century dedicated to St. Thomas of Villanueva

Preparatory meetings have recently taken place to carry out the dramatization of an auto sacramental dedicated to St. Thomas of Villanova, written in the seventeenth century by Juan de Cueto y Mena.

Juan de Cueto y Mena was a playwright born in Villanueva de los Infantes in 1604. With a degree in Law, and belonging to the circle of Bartolomé Jiménez Patón, he moved to Cartagena de Indias in 1636, where he worked as an apothecary (pharmacist) and moneylender. His work reflects the cultured literature of the Golden Age, influenced by Lope de Vega and Pedro Calderón de la Barca. In 1662 he published a volume with six of his works, including Paráfrasis panegírica, in the form of a colloquy, performed in Cartagena de Indias in 1660 on the occasion of the saint's canonization. His works were published in 1952 by the Hispanist Archer Woodford under the title Obras de Juan de Cueto y Mena.

The text now recovered is a valuable example of Baroque religious theater. Its recovery allows us to enhance the value of a little known piece of the literary heritage of the Golden Age linked to Villanueva de los Infantes and its cultural projection in the Spanish-American sphere.

The play, adapted and directed by Mercedes Gutiérrez, will be entitled Elogio dramático a Santo Tomás de Villanueva, based on the original text of Paráfrasis Panegírica.

The premiere will take place next July within the framework of the First Meeting of Golden Age Theater, organized by Bojiganga Teatro, and will be supported by the City Council of Villanueva de los Infantes and the Provincial Council of Ciudad Real.

This initiative represents a new step in the recovery and enhancement of the literary and theatrical heritage of Villanueva de los Infantes, reinforcing its role as a cultural reference of the Spanish Golden Age.