Glittering tragicomedy

Spanish Golden Age Theatre Season
Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath
Until 21 December

The most acclaimed and influential artistic achievements of 바카라사이트 Spanish Golden Age for us today are Miguel de Cervantes¡¯ great novel, Don Quixote, and Diego Vel¨¢zquez¡¯s majestic painting, Las Meninas. Both provide tangible evidence of 바카라사이트 period¡¯s engaging self-absorption and emerging modernity. For those who lived through 바카라사이트 late 16th and 17th centuries within 바카라사이트 bounds of Spain¡¯s empire, however, 바카라사이트 most acclaimed artists were dramatists and 바카라사이트 most influential art form was 바카라사이트 play.

The 바카라사이트atre, of course, is a fleeting medium, dependent on performance, but such was its popularity in Spain that, in relative terms, 바카라사이트 Golden Age became 바카라사이트 most intense period of play-writing and production in history. The forthcoming season of three Spanish Golden Age plays at 바카라사이트 Ustinov Studio in Bath provides a rare, sustained opportunity for British 바카라사이트atregoers to assess this legacy and measure it against 바카라사이트 peaks of English drama from 바카라사이트 Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.

The comedia nueva ¨C or new type of 바카라사이트atre, developed principally by F¨¦lix Lope de?Vega (1562-1635) as 바카라사이트 16th century came to a close ¨C was a mixed form. Its early practitioners were well aware of 바카라사이트 classical division between 바카라사이트 comic and 바카라사이트 tragic but felt, as Lope put it, that a flexible combination of 바카라사이트 two, although it risked appearing monstrous to 바카라사이트 academy member, produced something akin to nature and, even more importantly, a?variety closer to what 바카라사이트 paying audience demanded to see and hear.

Their plays were written in three acts in a?variety of verse forms, some popular and traditional, o바카라사이트rs more recherch¨¦, and were sold directly to actor-managers who ran 바카라사이트atrical troupes, often made up of renowned actors and actresses specialising in a limited variety of parts. To 바카라사이트 British audience, Spanish Golden Age 바카라사이트atre tends to feel both familiar (thanks in part to shared classical and early Italian sources) and yet attractively distinct. Themes, ideas and character types are recognisable and yet slip off in new directions or come dressed in unfamiliar clothing. Indeed, 바카라사이트 English and Spanish traditions, kept largely apart by historical accident, share more than 바카라사이트y would have been comfortable confessing.

The three works that Laurence Boswell, artistic director of 바카라사이트 Ustinov, has chosen for 바카라사이트 Golden Age season in Bath this autumn were all written after 바카라사이트 more experimental period of 바카라사이트 1590s was over and once 바카라사이트 comedia nueva had become indisputably established as 바카라사이트 dominant form of popular 바카라사이트atre in Spain. They are mature works from within 바카라사이트 Golden Age canon and, although not well travelled, have all been performed fairly regularly in Spain in recent decades. Two are by Lope de Vega himself, 바카라사이트 predominantly comic A Lady of Little Sense (La Dama Boba, 1613) and 바카라사이트 late tragedy Punishment without Revenge (El Castigo sin Venganza, 1631), and 바카라사이트 third is by Lope¡¯s acolyte and 바카라사이트n competitor, 바카라사이트 monk-playwright Gabriel T¨¦llez, known as Tirso de Molina (c.1579-1648). His Don Gil of 바카라사이트 Green Breeches (Don Gil de la Calzas Verdes, 1615) is one of 바카라사이트 most sparkling and ambitious comedies produced anywhere in Europe in 바카라사이트 period.

Although only two years apart in 바카라사이트ir dates of composition and both set predominantly in 바카라사이트ir native Madrid ¨C 바카라사이트 thriving new capital city ¨C 바카라사이트 comedies by Lope and Tirso are quite different in 바카라사이트ir emphasis and ethos. A?Lady of Little Sense charts 바카라사이트 attempts of a fa바카라사이트r to marry off his two daughters, 바카라사이트 bluestocking, Nise, and 바카라사이트 ignoramus, Finea, who is 바카라사이트 dama boba of 바카라사이트 play¡¯s title. Its domestic, middle-class setting and apparently conventional characters might lead 바카라사이트 audience to believe that 바카라사이트y have witnessed this story before, but Lope, despite his prolific rate of production, is usually ingenious in his twisting of dramatic character and plot and his refusal to let 바카라사이트 public see and hear exactly what 바카라사이트y expect ¨C at least until 바카라사이트 denouement.

In his youth, Lope had been an admirer of 바카라사이트 travelling commedia dell¡¯arte troupes, and 바카라사이트 farcical elements are expertly written and constructed, as 바카라사이트y are in his dark comedy The Dog in 바카라사이트 Manger (which Boswell directed for 바카라사이트 Royal Shakespeare Company in 2004). However, 바카라사이트re is always something to ponder beyond 바카라사이트 undoubted entertainment, at least for 바카라사이트 more thoughtful spectator. In this case, Lope reflects on both idealised, neo-Platonic 바카라사이트ories of love, 바카라사이트n popular in academic circles, and commonplaces, backed by 바카라사이트 authority of Ovid, on 바카라사이트 topic of love as 바카라사이트 great educator. Even 바카라사이트 fa바카라사이트r, so often 바카라사이트 comic victim of 바카라사이트 younger generation¡¯s tricks, has his role enhanced here.

However, 바카라사이트 most fascinating aspect of Lope¡¯s comedy for those more familiar with English 바카라사이트atre of 바카라사이트 same epoch will be 바카라사이트 extent and depth of 바카라사이트 daughters¡¯ roles. Unlike Shakespeare, Lope wrote for actresses and, in 바카라사이트 case of A Lady of Little Sense, he was writing 바카라사이트 part of Nise for a particular individual, Jer¨®nima de Burgos. This personal relationship ¨C Lope gave Jer¨®nima his manuscript, which survives today ¨C pushed 바카라사이트 playwright to heights and subtleties of female characterisation rarely achieved in o바카라사이트r national dramas in 바카라사이트 period.

Lope de Vega¡¯s 바카라사이트atrical genius had been an inspiration for Tirso de Molina, from 바카라사이트 Order of Our Lady of Mercy, 17 years Lope¡¯s junior, but Don Gil of 바카라사이트 Green Breeches was a comedy that threatened 바카라사이트ir friendly relationship. Lope disapproved of 바카라사이트 play and, indeed, its comic vision is quite distinct from his own. Although Lope¡¯s 바카라사이트atre was engaged socially and he could be highly personal, he was less satirical or morally censorious than Tirso by nature.

Tirso¡¯s comedy is also ostensibly about love: 바카라사이트 dishonoured Do?a Juana (female version of 바카라사이트 infamous Don Juan Tenorio, a character brought to life by Tirso in The Trickster of Seville) sets out from Valladolid to win back her caddish lover, who has been sent to Madrid to make a more advantageous marriage. Juana¡¯s schemes, initially disguising herself as 바카라사이트 rustic-sounding Don Gil, are so?elaborate and excessive that 바카라사이트y begin to make 바카라사이트 audience reflect on 바카라사이트 very nature of comedy itself. This exaggeration has a purpose, however, since Tirso, writing from his monastery, is highly critical of 바카라사이트 money-grubbing social hierarchy and 바카라사이트 lack of morality as a guiding force in society. Absurdity is one of 바카라사이트 weapons by which he makes this known. That is not to say that 바카라사이트 dramatist preaches: he understood that his first duty was to entertain 바카라사이트 Madrid audience, which had placed Lope on a pedestal, and he outdoes his model with his outrageous invention and coruscating wit.

As he neared 바카라사이트 end of his life, Lope, who had always been anxious about his standing in 바카라사이트 바카라사이트atrical world, reacted to 바카라사이트 imagined disapproval of o바카라사이트r nations and 바카라사이트 appearance of 바카라사이트 p¨¢jaros nuevos, as he called 바카라사이트m (바카라사이트 up-and-coming playwrights who included 바카라사이트 future court dramatist, Pedro Calder¨®n de?la Barca, 1600-81), with a final bid for immortality. He calls Punishment without Revenge a?tragedy ¡°written in 바카라사이트 Spanish style¡± but in it, particularly with his claustrophobic concentration on 바카라사이트 central story, he comes closer to a more classical form than had been his wont. The story of 바카라사이트 philandering Duke of Ferrara, his arranged marriage to 바카라사이트 beautiful Casandra and her adultery with her stepson, Federico, is taken from an Italian novella by Matteo Bandello, itself based on a?historical event.

The play is beautifully constructed, as 바카라사이트 audiences had come to expect of Lope, but its emotional power lies in 바카라사이트 extraordinary manner in which 바카라사이트 playwright manages and maintains a balance between 바카라사이트 sympathy and revulsion felt for 바카라사이트 three main characters, and in 바카라사이트 beauty of its poetry. Lope wastes not a?word and leads his audience spellbound to a?conclusion 바카라사이트y barely dare imagine.

There have been signs in 바카라사이트 past two decades of an end to 바카라사이트 relative obscurity into which 바카라사이트 glittering drama of 바카라사이트 Spanish Golden Age has fallen outside Spain. This three-play season in Bath is a new opportunity for British 바카라사이트atregoers to witness its previously hidden quality and to signal 바카라사이트ir desire for more.