Dramatic Activity in the Streets: A Documentary Analysis of the Auto Sacramental in Seventeenth-Century Segovia

Abstract

The study of the circumstances of performance of Golden Age dramatic activity is relatively recent. Studies of actors, the physical disposition of the playhouses, the contractual obligations of the acting companies, and the routes companies followed through Spain have made significant contributions to the understanding of Golden Age drama. Many of the same autores and acting companies that performed in the playhouses performed autos sacramentales in the streets during a city's celebration of Corpus Christi. Unpublished and unedited manuscripts from the seventeenth century describe the circumstances surrounding these performances. A transcription and detailed study of several documents, including contracts, from the seventeenth century provide us detailed accounts of performances in Segovia. The documents inform us about the companies that performed, the staging of the performances, and the financial and contractual responsibilities of a performance. The discovery and study of this information contributes one more piece to the unfolding history of theater and society in Golden Age Spain.