Carballido's I, Too, Speak of the Rose is considered by many to be his greatest play and has become a masterpiece of the Mexican theatre. This play was first published in 1965 in Revista de Belles Artes. In 1966, it was first seen on stage at the Teatro Jimenez Rueda in Mexico City
This one-act play was translated into English and published first in Drama and Theatre in 1969. The translation was by William D. Oliver. The play was produced in English in 1972 at San Fernando State College in Northridge, California, in a translation by Myrna Winer. This version of the play had the title / Also Speak About the Rose. This work received a couple of awards—the best play award in Mexico in 1967 and the Heraldo Prize.
I, Too, Speak of the Rose was also translated into French and produced in 1974. It received good reviews. It was also produced on French television.
Carballido's work has been influenced especially by playwrights such as Jean Anouilh, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller. Like much of Carballido's work, I, Too, Speak of the Rose employs realistic elements but has clearly an expres-sionistic bent to it. The play uses at times very poetic language and employs the metaphor of the rose throughout. On another level, it, like much of Latin American theater, has a social agenda and explores the state of poverty and criticizes the varied responses society offers to the problem. On a deeper level, the play explores questions about the nature of reality.
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