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A Census of the Provincial Theatre in Eighteenth-Century Spain
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 July 2009
Extract
The recorded history of the Spanish theatre has been, in large measure, a history of the Madrid stage. Madrid, like London and Paris, was not only the political center of its nation, but also its cultural capital. Performers and playwrights may have served enforced periods of apprenticeship in the provinces (the example of Molière comes to mind), but success in the capital remained a constant goal. Historians of the theatre in Spain have tended to follow the lead of the actors in fixing their attention almost exclusively on Madrid. N. D. Shergold's A History of the Spanish Stage becomes primarily a history of the Madrid stage after his chronicle moves from medieval times to the establishment of the first public theatres in late sixteenth-century Madrid. René Andioc's study of the eighteenth-century Spanish theatre, Sur la querelle du théâtre au temps de Leandro Fernández de Moratín (Theatrical Polemics in the Time of Moratin), is almost entirely about the theatre in Madrid, a fact recognized in the title of the Spanish version, Teatro y sociedad en el Madrid del siglo XVIII (Theatre and Society in Eighteenth-Century Madrid). Many additional examples could be cited from the Golden Age to the present of historians purporting to study the Spanish theatre, but in reality considering only the Madrid theatre.
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- Copyright © American Society for Theatre Research 1979
References
1 Research for this study was supported by a Younger Humanist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a research fellowship from the Del Amo Foundation (Los Angeles).
2 Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967.
3 Tarbes: Saint-Joseph, 1970.
4 Madrid: Fundación Juan March & Ed. Castalia, 1976.
5 Among others: Escovar, Narciso Diaz de and de la Vega, Francisco de P. Lasso, Historia del teatro español, 2 vols. (Barcelona: Montaner y Simón, 1924)Google Scholar; Prat, Ángel Valbuena, Historia del teatro español (Barcelona: Noguer, 1956Google Scholar); Ramón, Francisco Ruiz, Historia del teatro español, 2 vols., 2nd ed. (Madrid: Alianza, 1971)Google Scholar.
6 Piñal, Francisco Aguilar, Sevilla y el teatro en el siglo XVIII (Oviedo: Catedra Feijoo, 1974)Google Scholar; Fernández, Celso Almuiña, Teatro y cultura en el Valladolid de la ilustración (Valladolid: Ayuntamiento, 1974)Google Scholar; Fàbregas, Xavier, Aproximació a la història del teatre català modern (Barcelona: Curial, 1972)Google Scholar; Fàbregas, Xavier, Les formes de diversió en la societat catalana romàntica (Barcelona: Curial, 1975)Google Scholar; Zabala, Arturo, La opera en la vida teatral valenciana del siglo XVIII (Valencia: Diputación Provincial, 1960)Google Scholar; and the forthcoming study of the theatre in Valencia by Francis Sureda.
7 Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (1823–94), the renowned nineteenth-century popular composer, musician, and scholar, assembled numerous theatrical documents for a projected history of the Spanish stage. This history was never written, but the collection of correspondence, accounts, receipts, contracts, company lists, play-bills, music, etc. assembled by him is still intact in the Manuscript Department of the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid. For brief, but incomplete descriptions of this collection see: Subirá, José, “Manuscritos de Barbieri existentes en la Biblioteca Nacional,” Las Ciencias (Madrid), III:2 (1936), pp. 1–12Google Scholar; Anglés, Higinio and Subirá, José, Catálogo Musical de la Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, Vol. III (Barcelona: C.S.I.C., 1951), pp. 355–381Google Scholar. A complete catalogue of Barbieri's papers in the Biblioteca Nacional is reportedly being prepared by a staff member of the Manuscript Department.
8 “Copia de las Listas de todas las Compañias Cómicas del Reyno—de 1807 a 1808.” Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, MS 14.057, Carpeta #8. [item #2], f. l, r.
9 “Lista general de todas las Compañias Cómicas formadas para este año de 1807 a 1808 perteneciente a los Teatros fuera de la Corte: cuyos Autores, o Empresarios se nominan.” (f. 2, r.). The lists of towns and personnel rosters for twenty-two companies follow. The copyist, Tomás Yzardo, signed and dated the document in Madrid on 28 March 1807 (f. 9, r.). Luis Carbonero verified the copy in Madrid on 20 May 1807 with his signature and distinctive mark. (“Corresponden las Listas copiadas con los expedientes originales que se han causado para la expedicion de Despachos. Madrid 20 de Mayo de 1807. Luis Carbonero [followed by mark]” [f. 9, r.].) Luis Carbonero was appointed “Secretario de los Teatros del Reyno” on 9 April 1803 (Archivo Historico Nacional, Madrid, Consejos Suprimidos, MS 11.409, #21). The latest record of his activities which I have been able to locate is a petition on 2 February 1808 requesting more salary, claiming he is not paid enough for his services to the “teatros de fuera,” the theatres outside of Madrid (Archivo Historico Nacional, Madrid, Consejos Suprimidos, MS 11.407, #33). Three additional company lists were added in a different hand after Carbonero had signed on 20 May 1807. The first (Company No. 15) is preceded by a note explaining that it had been mistakenly omitted from the original list and is followed by Carbonero's mark. (“Nota. Se añade la lista siguiente que por olvido se omitió incluir entre las anteriores.” [f. 9, r.].) The second (Company No. 10) and third (Company No. 25) additions to the list are accompanied by notes explaining that the companies were formed after the original list had been completed; they are also verified by Carbonero's mark. (“Nota. EI Despacho que comprende esta lista se ha concedido posterior a la fecha que va insin.” [f. 9, v.]; “Nota. Se añade la Lista de la ciudad de Cádiz cuyo Desp. se expidio despues.” [f. 9, v.].)
10 “Que no pueden estar dos compañias juntas en un lugar, excepto en la corte o cuidad de Sevilla, ni estén más de dos meses cada año en un lugar.” Reprinted in Emilio Cotarelo y Mori, Bibliografía de las controversias sobre la licitud del teatro en España (Madrid: Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos, 1904), p. 632Google Scholar.
11 Cotarelo, , Controversias, p. 637Google Scholar.
12 Ibid., p. 640.
13 Ibid., p. 638.
14 Ibid. p. 686.
15 “Se prohiben desde ahora las compañías cómicas Ilamadas de la legua, cuya vagancia es comunmente perjudicial a las buenas costumbres, y su conjunto compuesto de personas corrompidas, Ilenas de miseria y de vicios en descrédito de la profesión cómica.” Ibid., p. 692.
16 A literal transcription of the manuscript would serve no purpose and hinder accessibility to the information contained in the lists. See Appendices 1 through 10.
17 Except “Joseph,” which has been consistently changed to José.
18 Barcelona (No. 24), Cádiz (No. 25), Granada (No. 20), Oviedo (No. 12), Sevilla (No. 23), Valencia (No. 22), and Zaragoza (No. 24).
19 There is some overlap between these two groups. As a general rule the number of towns on a company's circuit was inversely related to the number of actors and actresses in the company, but there are some exceptions. Thus, touring companies with sixteen or more performers (Nos. 9 through 19) include two which visited more than six towns.
20 However the resident company at Oviedo (No. 12) included only sixteen performers.
21 Los cómicos de la legua (The Strolling Players).
22 “No hay cosa mas fácil que esa: solo hablan los personajes de mas viso y consequencia, como galán, dama, barba, gracioso, u otro qualquiera, que no se puede omitir por el argumento de ella: los demas todos se atajan, las relaciones se dejan si tiene doscientos versos en algunos veinte o treinta. Y en fin Usía verá, si nos conceden liciencia, hacer el Cid Campeador sin que salga el Cid en ella.” Castillo, Juan Ignacio González del, Sainetes (Cádiz, 1812), p. 288Google Scholar. The earliest known printed version of this sainete was published in 1811 (Valencia), but an eighteenth-century manuscript version is extant at the Biblioteca del Instituto del Teatro, Barcelona, MS 82.996.
23 There is no discernible logic to the sequence of the company lists in the manuscript.
24 Company No. 1 played in eight towns in Castilla la Nueva and twelve towns in Levante. Company No. 6 traveled to four towns in Castilla la Neuva, one town in Levante, and one town in Andalucía. Other companies performing in one town outside of their principal regions were Nos. 7, 10, 11, and 14.
25 Although there is some overlap in the areas covered by some of the touring companies (particularly in Andalucía, Levante, and Castilla la Nueva), each of the circuits comprised a reasonably compact geographic area, with the exception of Company No. 14. Seven of its towns are located in Castilla la Vieja, but the eighth, Santander, is about 250 kilometers outside of the logical perimeter of this circuit. One explanation is that historically Santander has been a part of Castilla la Vieja, not a part of the Basque Provinces near which it is located, and the circuits were established over the years along historical rather than logical lines. There may of course have been other reasons for this anomaly.
26 It should also be noted that three towns in Levante and four towns in Andalucía each appear on the itineraries of two companies. Presumably the companies alternated their visits to these towns and did not appear simultaneously.
27 “ … donde hai theatros y compañias estables, … donde hay theatros y concurren a representar las compañias volantes, u de la Legua.” “Carta de Antonio Martínez Salazar al Corregidor de Madrid, José Antonio Armona,” 20 November 1778. British Library, Add. MSS 20.793, fols. 359–360. See also Aguilar Piñal, p. 122, where this list is transcribed (with a slight error). Aguilar Piñal's citation of the MS number is also incorrect.
28 Córdoba, for example, was granted royal permission on 18 February 1784 to prohibit theatrical performances. The renewal of the edict on 17 August 1814 suggests that the prohibition was not always strictly observed. Cotarelo, , Controversias, p. 715Google Scholar.
29 Two towns in Andalucía, Candela and Isla de Leon, could not be located. It is possible that their names have been completely changed since the early nineteenth-century.
30 Felipe Pallarés is designated as “autor and head of the company.”
31 Melchor Ronci is described as being “in charge of” his company and Jerónimo López' troupe is designated as belonging to him (“compañía cómica de”).
32 “Yo soy autor y gracioso, baylo el fandango y la inglesa, tambien hago de galán, y compongo varias piezas como loas, y saynetes, entremeses y comedias, hago a dentro los papéles que dicen al arma guerra, toco el tambor por las calles, enciendo las candilejas, y teniendo tantas gracias jamas tengo una peseta.” González del Castillo, pp. 290–291.
33 José Carrero is listed as manager and First Comic of his company. A “José Carreros” is listed as musician. It is conceivable that the MS is in error and that “Carrero” and “Carreros” refers to the same person. However, this is unlikely as it would probably require one person to perform simultaneously as an actor and as a musician.
34 In addition to the three company lists signed by Francisco Alonso where he is clearly not the autor, the list for Company No. 11 is signed by Vicente Torretagle, the First Old Man (anciano) of the company. Leoncio Corona is, however, clearly identified as the individual responsible for the formation of the company and presumably therefore its autor.
35 “Compañía cómica que con comisión de la ciudad de Oviedo ha formado Don Francisco Alonso de la que es autor el Señor Bernardo Ximenes [Jiménez].”
36 “Compañía que ha formado Don Francisco Alonso por empresa para [list of towns], de la que es autor Antonio Solís.”
37 Mori, Emilio Cotarelo y, Don Ramón de la Cruz y sus obras (Madrid, 1899), pp. 440–450Google Scholar.
38 Aguilar Piñal, p. 314.
39 Ibid., pp. 316–319.
40 Ibid., p. 321. The full story of Ana Sciomeri's stormy career is traced in Chapters 15 and 16 of Aguilar Piñal's study.
41 Cotarelo, , Cruz, pp. 470, 566Google Scholar.
42 Almuiña Fernández, p. 130.
43 Aguilar Piñal, p. 315.
44 Mori, Emilio Cotarelo y, Isidoro Maiquez y el teatro de su tiempo (Madrid: José Perales y Martínez, 1902), pp. 543–545Google Scholar.
45 Almuiña Fernández, p. 97.
46 Zabala, pp. 176–225.
47 For an extended discussion of eighteenth-century actors and their impact on the popular theatre in Madrid see, Falk, Heinrich Richard, “Actors, Audiences, and Theatrical Sainetes: A Formula for Success on the Eighteenth-Century Spanish Stage,” Educational Theatre Journal, Vol. 28, No. 3 (10 1976), pp. 299–311CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
48 See company lists for Madrid published in Cotarelo, , Cruz (pp. 440–472)Google Scholar and Maiquez (pp. 529–573).
49 Company No. 21 in Barcelona.
50 This information is also included on the roster for the two Madrid companies.
51 “Listas de las Compañías,” Archivo Municipal, Madrid, Secretaria, MS 2–466–22, fols. 28–36; Diario de Madrid, Núm. 84 (25 March 1807), pp. 349–352Google Scholar; additional documents pertaining to this season's performers in Archivo Municipal, Madrid, Secretaria, MS 4–169–34. The published lists in Cotarelo, Maiquez, pp. 552–553, are frustratingly inaccurate and wholly unreliable. A company scheduled to perform at the Reales Sitios in 1807/1808 under the direction of Gregorio Bermudez was disbanded on 4 August 1807 (Archivo del Palacio, Madrid, San Ildefonso, Legajo 60). I have unfortunately not been able to locate the roster for this company. Several attempts were made to find a place for this company to perform and on 23 October 1807 a performance was announced for the Caños del Peral theatre in Madrid (Diario de Madrid, Núm. 296, p. 498).
52 The exception was Company No. 4 where the manager, Antonio Ibáñez, also served as the prompter.
53 Nos. 1, 5, 6, and 9.
54 Sala, José María, “Singular y plural de Juan Ignacio González del Castillo,” Estudios Escenicos, No. 19 (04 1975), p. 103Google Scholar.
55 The lists for Companies No. 17, 19, 21, and 24 include no auxiliary personnel, but it is clear that as in all of the larger companies one or more musicians would have been attached to them. The only other company not showing at least one musician is Company No. 1. However, two actresses and one actor are specifically identified as singers and the same actor and one of the actresses are shown as dancers. This would obviously have required some kind of musical accompaniment, suggesting that the list as it stands is incomplete.
56 Almuiña Fernández, pp. 223–224.
57 “Director y compositor de las Piezas de Música—Dn Benito Pérez; Músico de Compañía—Dn Josef Estruch;… Director y Primer Violin de la Orquesta—Dn Manuel Cous [?], La qual consta de 8 Violines, 2 Obueses, 2 Trompas, 2 Violas, un Fagot, un Violoncelo, 2 Contrabajos, y un Copiante de Música.”
58 “con su segundo, 5 oficiales y 9 asistentes.”
59 Blancas, Blasón, Marquesi, F. Pérez, and Rodrigo.
60 Castro, Escalante, Moreno, Pérez, Rodrigo, Suárez, and Vori.