Theatrical Voyeurism: Performing Rehearsal in the Spanish Comedia Nueva

Abstract

[EN]In this article I will examine how rehearsal was embodied on the early modern Spanish stage: that is, how it appears as an element of performance within a number of Comedia nueva plays. More specifically, I will focus on how the rehearsal experience was brought to life for audiences in Spanish playhouses and what functions it performed within the play it was part of. In early modern Spain, rehearsals within plays were staged with different metatheatrical techniques, which allowed playwrights to present an image of what few spectators actually had the opportunity to see for themselves due to the private nature of professional rehearsals.