In 1729, due to the marriage of the princes of Spain and Portugal, the work was mounted The weapons of beauty, by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, which was the first laying carried out in the Río de la Plata. It would take a century for the interest in the tables to reappear in the former Portuguese city.
In the 1880s, the department of Colonia and all of Uruguay were in the midst of a process of economic growth, due to exports of raw materials and foreign investment. However, the frenzy of business and speculation promoted by adventurous businessmen, in the case of the Spanish Emilio Reus, was the cause of the crisis of 1890. Since 1877, with the education reform, the literate population had increased. In parallel, the press media and public entertainment multiplied, encompassing everything from Italian opera companies to groups of theater fans. This development of cultural spaces and the literate world had an impact on the most remote towns in the interior of the republic.
In 1883, the La Unión Amateur Dramatic Society was established in Colonia del Sacramento, which performed in two performances at the Solís Theater in Montevideo; The proceeds went to social works in the town. In view of the good success of the young actors, the Provisional Commission – made up of Leopoldo Riverós, president, Ángel Hernández, treasurer and José Zamora, secretary – published a note in the newspaper Freedom to encourage residents to subscribe to the Society. Permeated with a rationalist spirit and progress, they stated: “Theater in all civilized towns is a popular chair where customs are modified and one effectively learns, in the face of a positive theory, the duties we have with the society in which we live, conforming to it those habits of good tone that so distinguish and characterize those educated and enlightened centers. This disciplining potential of the theater was more than necessary. In July of that year, according to a police report, a subject who was in a drunken state in a theater had set some objects on fire, throwing them into the audience, and then wanted to fight with his seat neighbor. Regular attendance at the theater could perhaps temper these practices, taking us from “barbarism” to “civilization”.
Support our journalism.
Subscribe for $195/month
In November the Society staged the drama in three acts The forest of the executedwhich was followed by the one-act comedy Don Diego at night. Likewise, in December the drama Mother’s Love and the petite-piece The Bandit. As a result of the assembly convened for January 1884, a permanent commission was set up headed by Leopoldo Riverós, the political chief Beningno P Carámbula, Ángel Hernández, Francisco Morelli and Pedro Bayce, all local notables, many members of the Economic-Administrative Board . The construction of boxes was projected, beginning a subscription in this regard, collecting the sum of 50 pesos. Carámbula even offered to pay for the labor. The number of associates was at that time 80 members, increasing later. Soon after, the play was staged in two acts. Before all the honorVega drama, and the peti-piece The Serene’s Woman.
In February the drama was performed A challengeby Mariano José de Larra, a work that motivated a journalistic chronicle in Freedom, one of the first in the annals of the Colonian press. In this he refers: “The drama was totally well interpreted by the fans who in a very short period of time progressed remarkably.” Regarding the staging, it is mentioned: “We also had the satisfaction of seeing some advances, such as the rich costumes that they made of swashbuckling, which naturally gave the viewer much more enhancement. We also saw a backdrop that was recently released with various other decorations.” The attendance “was quite large”, including “some people who form a judgment of the representation given”, who left “very satisfied”. Finally in the city “there is one of the main attractions of our society, The Theater!”.
The theatrical activity would continue, adding foreign companies, many arrivals from the neighboring shore. In the months of July and August 1889, the businessman Castillo built upper and lower boxes in his theater, called El Progreso. The company of zarzuelas of the Argentine actor Carmona would attend to perform. The function, projected for August 10, had to be suspended, because the comedian Rafaela H, Mrs. de Castillo, had fallen ill. The debut would be with the zarzuelas the weak man, Proof y the calandria. Arriving from Buenos Aires, Elisa Luqui would sing in these works, “the first soprano in operas and not only well known but also applauded in the main theaters of this Republic and the neighboring shores”. Tickets could be bought at the Navarro cigarette store, on Francisco Betelú.
This time The Uruguayan, directed by Antonio Cresöt, published a chronicle of the show. Regarding the female roles, it is commented: “the ladies are of the highest class in their class, the one who worked at the Calandria having been remarkable, for her fine and graceful gestures of a true Andalusian and for the ease with which she expressed herself”. In relation to Luqui, it was opined that she should have presented herself to the public “with a little more kindness”, despite that she knew how to delight with her “canary cooing, which she used to execute her ballads”. The chronicle closes in this slightly humorous way: “We finished our little review by congratulating Mr. Carmona, who was very good in the Jota Aragonesa as well as his partner, and we limited ourselves to censoring something about the piano, which is the most terrible being that way. that despite being played by the famous pianist Vidaola, but, take away that if the instrument does not work; there is no way to show off, because on the part of Mr. Vidaola there is nothing to say; we know his strength on the piano and his intelligence in music ”.
Already in the 20th century, with the appearance of the Stella Cinema-Theater, located on Intendente Suárez street, between General Flores and 18 de Julio, musical, theatrical and cinematographic events would gain greater continuity. The activities of the Stella have filled a good part of the cultural agenda of the Colonian society for several decades.
2023-06-23 03:29:29
#origins #theater #Colonia #del #Sacramento
