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Women in Spanish Golden Age Theatres: In the Thick of It

– by Patricia Ash (B.F.A., ’09)

Where were women in the theatre of the Siglo de Oro? In the thick of it. Between 1580
and 1680, women were an active part of the audiences in the playhouses of Madrid and other
cities. On Spanish stages, actresses played the female roles instead of boy apprentices, as on
Shakespeare's stage. And while the female playwright was a rarity, the names and works of
several talented women have survived.

During the Spanish Golden Age, anyone who could pay (and some who couldn't) packed
the corrales (theatres) to full capacity, as people pack the subways in Tokyo and New York
today. The corrales of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain were designed with a special
gallery for women, called the cazuela , literally translated as "the stew pot," directly across
from the stage at the back of the theatre, behind the patio, the large open area with seats or
standing room for the mosqueteros (common men) . The women who sat in the cazuela were
poorer and less respectable than the ones who rented private boxes. It was often said (and
proved) that the rough mosqueteros determined the success of any given comedia (play)
because of their cheers, jeers, and behavior. However, the women in the cazuela were almost
as noisy as the men, shouting and rattling their keys against the railings of their "stew pot." In
fact, the only reason they were less noisy is that the cazuela seated fewer spectators! A
theatrical experience in one of the corrales would be a little like attending a soccer game or
rock concert. Sometimes brawls and riots occurred, sparked by the rivalry between actors or
an audience's response to a bad performance.

On the stage, reveling in the attention, were the Spanish actresses. Although they
acquired a reputation for being immoral women, they attracted admirers in droves. Some of
those admirers were attracted by the rumors (often false) that the actresses were immodest or
notorious, while others were attracted by the women's beauty. Many spectators were simply
captivated by the women’s talent onstage. One example, Maria de Riquelme, an actress in the
first half of the 17th century, was renowned not only for her physical beauty and excellent
acting, but for her virtuous life. When her husband, the autor Manuel Vallejo, died in 1644,
she left the theatre and devoted the remaining twelve years of her life to religion. Some
actresses, however, fit every word of the scandalous stereotype.

Maria Calderon, called La Calderona, had a son by King Philip IV of Spain, who was a
great fan of the theatre and to whom she was most definitely not married.

Despite their reputation, the actresses possessed glamour, like famous actresses today.
The Catholic Church, dominated by the Inquisition, protested that the theatres were a bad
influence on young people—especially women. The Church was offended by “immoral”
actresses playing such characters as the Virgin Mary. The combined authorities of the
government and the Catholic Church handed down various laws and decrees that attempted to
restrict theatres and their actresses. The fact that such a number of them were passed and that
these laws tended to repeat each other in terms of conditions and issues suggests that these
laws may not have been followed very closely. Some of these decrees include the following:
an actress was forbidden from cross-dressing as a man on the stage (a popular convention in
plays of the period), an actress was forbidden from receiving any visitors other than her
husband in her dressing room, an actress was forbidden from performing suggestive dances
during the entremeses between acts, and an actress was forbidden from treading the boards
unless her father or husband was present in the theatre. Most actresses were part of a
professional troupe that included other members of her family; most actors received their
training through their family. Further, actresses were expected to be married. In 1596, the
government banned women from the stage for a short time, but the people loved actresses so
much that this ban was quickly revoked.

A good actress was well paid: "In March 1604...the celebrated Baltasara de los Reyes
(called La Baltesara) agreed to act in the company of Gaspar de Porres for one year, receiving
16 reals for each performance and 6 reals daily for maintenance, besides traveling expenses. "
This in an age where the average worker made about 6 reals a day. Granted, actors had to
provide their own costumes - elaborate, fashionable, debt-inducing costumes, especially for
women. The autor would often help defray the costume costs for lesser actors, but headliners
paid for their own.

Whose words were these women speaking as they trod the boards of the Spanish stage?
Mostly, men like Lope de Vega wrote the plays. Women wrote as well, but usually their
poetry, prose, and plays stayed within the limited circle of their family. Occasionally, the
works of some lucky, talented woman would be published or even produced. For example,
Ana Caro Mallen de Soto's work was published in the same collections as famous male
playwrights of the day such as Pedro Calderon de la Barca. There is record of payment to her
as a playwright on two different occasions, one each in 1641 and 1645, for autos
sacramentales. Two of her probably much larger and unknown number of secular comedias
survive, entitled El Conde Partinuples and Valor, Agravio, y Mujer. Since much praise for her
many comedias still exists, many scholars assume her works were widely circulated and
perhaps produced in many places, although documentary records of these performances are
few. Little is known about her and other female playwrights, much less than of their male
contemporaries.

It is probable that women worked in the Spanish playhouses as seamstresses and dressers
for the actresses, and perhaps in other capacities. Records, found in government and
playhouse sources, do not name these women or provide details about their contributions. As
in other European countries of the late Renaissance, history has swallowed whole the records
of women's participation as audience members, actresses, playwrights, technical artists, and
staff. However, the names of the few ladies we do know suggest the presence and talents of
the many anonymous women who played a role in the brilliance of the theatre during the
Siglo de Oro.