In Naufragios de Álvar Núñez begun in 1978 and published later, in 1991, in Trilogía americana, playwright José Sanchis Sinisterra submits the Spanish imperial past to an inquisitive and tragicomic process of deconstruction. Inspired by the homonymous sixteenth-century chronicle, Sanchis opens the stage to an explorer who is cast into an unspecified present period and deals with serious mental issues as a consequence of his long journey. This play recolonizes Spain’s post-Francoist present, raising questions about the historical discourse of the past by unmaking this very past at a time of political and economic uncertainty for the nation. Through post-modern techniques, the theatrical stage becomes a site for historical pastiche while unma(s)king historical discourse through humour and satire. This analysis explores the connection between the historical protagonist, his inner crises, and Spaniards, as well as the function of theatrical discourse and stage performance in the shaping of historical consciousness during the Transition.