The Principal Theater, the quintessential stage of the Aragonese capital, houses much more than meets the eye when you attend one of its shows or any of the activities that are usually organized in its Mariano Cariñena space. This bicentennial jewel is full of unknown corners for the general public. For 14 years, the theater staff has shared all the secrets of this building with those who want to know its history in depth.
Yesterday, two groups that were part of the guided tours, resumed after the interruption in October due to the health crisis, again checked. Free of charge (with prior request on the Principal’s website) and in groups of a maximum of 10 people you can rediscover the ins and outs of this building. The itinerary lasts one hour and the next appointments will be on the 23rd and 30th of this month and on April 5 and 12.
The visit begins in the lobby, the Mariano Cariñena space, named after the Aragonese director and playwright, a key figure in the theater in Aragon. In this beginning, the origin of the Main Theater is explained, inaugurated on August 25, 1799, and that throughout its more than two centuries of existence has undergone three major reforms.
But before its creation, there was another great theater very close to this place, the Coliseo de Comedias (where today the Bank of Spain is located) that burned down in 1778, a catastrophe in which 77 people died and 52 were injured.
Thereafter performances were prohibited, until the stagehand Vicente Martinez he devised in what was then a barn the construction of a provisional hall, on the site that would occupy the Main Theater.
The hall is the work of José Beltrán and Regino Borobio and it was made between 1937 and 1940. In this way it became the main entrance, with two floors and a space used by Zaragoza society to see and be seen. In this space there is also the mural ‘Zaragoza’, by Jose Manuel Broto, installed in the 80s, after the reform undertaken by José Manuel Pérez Latorre. Also stand out in the Principal several sculptures of Francisco Rallo and a beautiful mural of Jorge Gay located in front of the dressing rooms (17 in total).
On the first floor, visitors discover the mayor’s box, as well as details of the theater’s collection of play programs and photographs. The lamps, the furniture of Loscertales, the old tea room or the decoration of the walls. At the other end of the ambiguity, the color of the walls distinguishes Pérez Latorre’s reform (gray) from the original floor plan (red). From there you can also access an emergency staircase where concrete, iron and glass predominate. Beneath it is a five meter deep cistern that also contributes to the good acoustics of the room.
You can also visit the chicken coop or casserole, where you can closely admire the decoration of the ceiling, the work of various artists and commissioned to Ricardo Magdalena, who was in charge of the preservation of the coliseum between 1876 and 1910. The oldest element of the Principal is the curtain painted by Mariano Unceta and seeing closely how this and other curtains rise or fall is something that is verified from the stagehands’ galleries. There you can see the comb, the sea of rods, the spotlights … without this invisible work for the public, the performances could not begin.
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