The crime fiction in the career of Josefina and Claudio de la Torre: their theatre collaboration El enigma (1939)

Abstract

During their creative career, Josefina and Claudio de la Torre created numerous works, in different artistic disciplines, which reflected their interest in the crime fiction. Among these works, the theatrical play El enigma, attributed to Claudio de la Torre, stands out. In this text the novel El enigma de los ojos grises (1938), by Josefina de laTorre, is adapted. As in the novel, the theatrical version offers a crime adventure plot that respects, in great measure, the original story. On its premiere on March 18th in 1939, in the Cine Cuyás in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the play obtained a remarkable success. In fact, in the same city, a radio adaptation of some scenes of the play was broadcast. However, El enigma has not been studied. For this reason, in the present article we try to analyze the text. At the beginning, we will stablish how the crime fiction manifested in the artistic career of Josefina and Claudio de la Torre. After that, we will explain the main differences between the theatre play and the novel, as well as between the play and the radio adaptation. Finally, we will examine the crime fiction features that exist in the theatre play. In this way, we expect to show how the knowledge that the De la Torre brothers had about crime fiction manifest in El enigma.