Spanish Golden-Age Theatre

The Spanish theatre developed much the same as theatre elsewhere in Europe. Religious plays, evolving into more secular themes, and eventually breaking from the church completely were present in not only Spain, but also elsewhere in Europe. Spanish theatre and Italian theatre especially were very close, but there were significant differences in Spanish culture, and Spanish history in general, that led to very unique elements being incorporated that were not seen elsewhere on the European continent. There was also an influence of very talented and Spanish playwrights that brought their culture, heritage, and personal touches to their work, and aided the formation of Spanish theatre. It was the combination of a unique history, religious circumstances, and also simply the requirements of the Spanish people and cities in which theatre was performed that shaped a unique and special theatrical experience in Spain.

For five hundred years, the majority of the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by the Moors. An Islamic group, the Moors brought to Spain a stable and flourishing culture, as well as a strong sense of honor and dignity. They ruled much of Spain from the time of their invasion in 711, all the way up through the 1200's, when the Christian kingdoms to the north united to drive them out. It is at that time when theatre truly began to take root in Spain. The Muslim culture had suppressed theatre, but as Spain was Christianized, religious dramas began to spring up, much as they had done elsewhere in Europe. Called autos or autos sacrimentales, they were very similar to the Morality and Cycle plays produced elsewhere in the European continent. It is important to note that these autos remained popular in Spain long after religious themes were removed from plays elsewhere in Europe, due in part to the rigorous preservation of a pure Christian state in Spain. Because of the Inquisition, Spain did not face the opposition to Christianity that the rest of Europe was suffering. And this helped to preserve the popularity of the autos sacrimentales well beyond the lifespan of the medieval mystery cycles.

The autos had traits that combined Medieval morality and cycle plays elsewhere in Europe. They were plays that combined mortal men with the supernatural and allegorical characters of morality plays. They took themes from many sources, not just the religious, but also the secular, provided that these themes helped teach Catholic dogma in the end. The plays were performed by traveling troupes, much like the cycle plays in England and elsewhere. On other occasions, troupes were comprised of local craftsman's guilds. The center for the autos sacrimentales was Madrid. Three auto plays were performed in succession by a single company between around 1500 until 1592. After that, four autos would be staged, and two troupes would be responsible for them. This continued on until 1647. After that, the number was decreased to only two. The autos sacrimentales were performed on outdoor stages, supplemented by the use of carros, or large carts. (McKendrick, 240) These carts were very large and served not only as mansions to provide extra scenery for the different locations of the play, but also as dressing-space for the actors and storage for the properties. "The scenery of the carros incorporated curtains or doors to be used for discoveries and, in many cases, an upper stage level to depict, for example, Heaven..." (McKendrick, 240) They were wheeled from town to town by a team of bulls with gilded horns, and arranged in the order by which the performance would run, around the pre-existing outdoor stage.

Secular theatre in Spain saw it's roots in the early 1500's. It was in 1538 that the Salamanca University began to put on performances of plays by Plautus and Terence. Before that, however, the Spanish had already begun to try their hand at their own secular drama. In 1500, a dialogue was written entitled "The Comedy of Callisto and Melibea." It was not yet true drama, but was considered the forerunner of Spanish secular drama in that later writers were frequently influenced by the interpretation of the conflict therein. Much of the earliest secular drama was aimed solely at the aristocracy, to be performed at court, and had but a minimal influence on professional drama. However, later writers for professional secular theatre could draw roots from this early beginning, and it is therefore considered an important base.

Spanish professional theatre as a whole saw it's beginnings in the late 1400's, when actors were hired to perform plays at the celebration of Corpus Christi. It was not common to see professional actors in Spain until the mid 1500's, however. About this time, in the 1550's, Lope de Rueda, one of the influential earlier Spanish playwrights, proposed that a permanent theatre be built in Valladolid, but there isn't a record to show whether or not it was actually built. In any case, the growing popularity of professional acting companies led to the springing up of permanent theatre structures in Seville, Madrid, Toledo, and elsewhere by the 1570's. These theatres were known as corrales, for their shape. The corrales were often somewhat similar to Elizabethan public theatres, but were square or oblong as opposed to circular. They enclosed a courtyard and the stage-house and playing space at one end. There were three stories, the courtyard being reserved exclusively for men, the first story for men and accompanied women, the second story for unaccompanied women, called the cazuela, and the highest balconies and boxes for the nobility and heads of state. They were called corrales because corral is the Spanish term for Courtyard. Courtyards were common features of the Spanish neighborhood, as houses were often arranged around a common courtyard. The theatre was built to emulate this. The stage and playing space of the corral theatres was very similar to the stage of Elizabethan England. It consisted of a raised stage with no proscenium arch, but a permanent façade at the back of the space, which contained many archways and what are known as "discovery spaces". The action on stage could be seen from three sides, though most of the patrons were seated or standing in front of the stage.

Lope de Rueda was among the first of the notable secular playwrights in Spain. His specialty was a type of play known as the paso. Pasos were shorter dramatic interludes, often farcical and used for comedic relief. The characters were of the lower classes, and the scenes exhibited dramatic unity. He began his career as an actor, and by 1551, he was not only an actor, but a manager of an acting company as well. He wrote several pasos to be performed by his acting company during this time. At least ten exist that he is said to have written. His use of prose was innovative, and emulated to an extent by other writers of the time, and though his humor was often primitive, it was designed to achieve a raucous response. He was known to be excellent at writing argument between characters, and even infused these moments with popular themes and a sense of humor. (Crawford, 112) He is also known to have written at least four full length comedies, most of which were based on Italian works. In Cervantes' biography of Lope de Rueda, it was stated that "Lope de Rueda died at Cordova, and because he was an excellent and famous man, they buried him in the cathedral of that city between the two choirs." But it was not said precisely when it was that he died.

Lope Felix de Vega Carpio was born on November 25^th, 1562. He was born in Madrid, Spain. His early career was mostly as a poet, as he did not start writing drama until later on. He claimed in 1609 that he had written 483 plays, but the total number in his career could have been well over a thousand. His plays were hallmarked by several characteristics. He was said to have disliked unhappy endings, so his plays ended with well resolved conflicts. His plays had very clearly defined action, and themes that showed conflict between love and honor. His writing style was natural and, though the Spanish language does not have verse forms as the English language does, has nonetheless been compared with Shakespeare. His most notable and developed characters were those of women and the simpleton, though he wrote about people of all ranks of society. Some of the works considered his best were The Sheep Well (1614), The Foolish Lady (1613), and Punishment Without Revenge (1631). One of his other works, (One that I could actually find a synopsis of) was called Fuente Ovejuna. This play was written somewhere between 1612 and 1614. It was the story of the village of Fuente Ovejuna. After the Moors were expelled from Spain, a military commander stationed in the village began to mistreat the villagers. In the play, he is responsible for the rape of not only a peasant girl, but also his future wife. Because of this, the villagers rise up and murder the commander. In the end, despite torture, the villagers refuse to admit to the murder, saying only "Fuente Ovejuna did it." Upon a meeting with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella at the end of the play, the villagers tell their story, and are pardoned. (Gwynne) This play was a dramatic interpretation of historical events. Lope de Vega died after a long bout of illness on August 27^th, 1635.

One of Lope de Vega's contemporaries was a writer by the name of Tirso de Molina. He was a monk, his real name being Fray Gabriel Tellez, and he wrote roughly forty plays in his lifetime under the pseudonym of Tirso de Molina. (McKendrick, 115) His most famous play was The Trickster of Seville (1616-1630), which was the first play based on the story of Don Juan. It outlined Don Juan's sexual conquests, his outlandishly sinful lifestyle, and his ignorance of death and damnation, ultimately ending with his demise in the flaming pits of hell. In general, his plays were often full of characters that bordered on the extreme. He is also known for bringing a psychological depth to his work that was missing in the writings of Lope de Vega. "Human vanity and gullibility, the capacity of human beings to deceive themselves and others, the lack of honesty and realism in the way man and society conduct their affairs, are all strongly predicated in Tirso's comedies, but the attractive thing about them is that they never preach and rarely judge." (McKendrick, 117) Not much is known about Tirso de Molina, except that he was born in 1584, exiled from Madrid in 1625, and died in 1648.

Yet another of the Spanish Golden Age writers was a man known as Calderón. Born Pedro Calderon de la Barca, he was an educated man, studying at the Universities of Alcala and Salamanca. He had been on the path to a life serving the church, but abandoned this in favor of becoming a playwright. (McKendrick, 140) He, unlike Lope de Vega, wrote for court theatre. He also wrote a large amount of autos for the church. Overall, his best work is considered to be that which he wrote as autos sacrimentales. Of his secular plays, his best work was composed between 1622 and 1640. Some of these were: Life is But a Dream, The Phantom Lady, and The World is a Fair. Many of these involved intrigue and misunderstanding, in the almost farcical style of the "Cape and sword" comedy. His serious plays dealt with morals, honor, and the conscience.

Lastly, consideration should be given to the staging and special effects of the Spanish theatre. In the corrales the staging was similar to the Elizabethan stage, with minimal setting. Occasionally, façades, curtains, or even medieval style mansions were employed to show a change of location, but often it could be achieved simply with an exit and subsequent re-entry. A good majority of the effects and stage dressing in the court theatre, on the other hand, was heavily influenced by the Italian stage, and it should be interesting to note that it wasn't until late in the history of Spanish theatre that there were any notable designers. For the most part, the acting companies hired their designers straight from Italy. This meant that the set was usually designed in perspective, with things "diminishing into the background" to give the illusion of great space on stage.

Spanish theatre was the result of a very unique cultural blending. Because of the Spaniards' Moorish roots, and their devoutly Christian way of life, the Spanish theatre developed into a unique entity all its own. Spanish drama was similar to drama elsewhere on the European continent, but the Spanish gave their drama a unique flavor based on their experiences, culture, and religious circumstances. And a wealth of Spanish playwrights left their indelible mark on the face of drama as well. As a result, the theatre of the Spanish Golden Age was a uniquely Spanish experience.

Bibliography

Allen, John J. The Reconstruction of a Golden Age Playhouse: El Corral del Principe, 1583-1744. Gainesville, FL, 1983.

Crawford, J.P.W. Spanish Drama before Lope de Vega. Rev. ed. Philadelphia, 1937.

Edwards, Gwynne, ed. Lope de Vega, Three Major Plays. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1999

McKendrick, Melveena. Theatre in Spain, 1490-1700. London, 1989.

Rennert, Hugo A. The Spanish Stage in the Time of Lope de Vega. Philadelphia, 1909.

Rennert, Hugo A. The Life of Lope de Vega. Glasgow, 1904.