Publisher's Synopsis
Theatrical life in Madrid immediately prior to municipal administration of the theatre business. This volume completes the publication of all the surviving theatrical documents in the Archivo de Secretarììa of the Madrid Municipal Archives from the period of the corrales de comedias. The volume covers the last quarter-century of the life of Madrid's playhouses, the Corral de la Cruz and the Corral del Prììncipe, beginning in 1719, at the point when the long-standing system of leasing the playhouses to private businessmen finally gave wayto direct municipal adminstration of the theatre business, and ending when the old corrales are finally demolished and replaced by modern coliseos (proscenium theatres), the Cruz in 1736-1737 and the Prììncipe in 1744-1745. The documentation from this period is especially rich and varied, offering us a detailed picture of theatrical life in the Spanish capital in a period of transition.
