The King on Stage: Philip IV and the Projection of Power in Lope de Vega’s Opera La selva sin amor

Abstract

Abstract: Lope de Vega’s opera, La selva sin amor (1627), is consequential as Spain’s inaugural opera, penned by the country’s foremost playwright, executed through Italian recitative, and featuring pioneering stage designs and machinery by Cosimo Lotti. What truly distinguishes this production, however, is the personal involvement of King Philip IV. He attended rehearsals over an extended period, modified the script and music, performed the opera’s music, sang its verses, operated the stage machinery, and occupied a prominent front-and-center seat in the audience. The King’s active participation collapses the distance between the stage and the audience, effectively integrating the monarch into every aspect of the production and making him the central focal point of the entire drama. Amplifying the mimetic properties of the work, the King is inside and outside the play concurrently, a symbolic projection of authority.