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3 - On the eve of Romanticism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2010
Summary
A smash hit: “La pata de cabra” (1829)
If the two translations and one political play which we have seen thus far provided scant proof of Grimaldi's abilities as a playwright, the same cannot be said about his 1829 adaptation of Cesar Ribie's and A.L.D. Martainville's Lepiedde mouton, a three-act comedy first played in Paris in 1806. It became the most popular play in Spain in the first half of the nineteenth century and surpassed in number of performances and box office receipts every other play produced until midcentury, including such major works as Don Alvaro, El trovador (the most successful Romantic play, which had twenty-five performances) and even Don Juan Tenorio? The people's insatiable hunger for this magical, silly farce brought enormous fame and substantial wealth to Grimaldi, and a newfound life to the Spanish theatre which was tottering, now more than ever, on the brink of financial ruin.
Grimaldi was director (not impresario) of the Príncipe when To do lo vence amor o lapata de cabra (known popularly as Lapata de cabra) was first performed on February 18, 1829.4 From the outset, the newspapers recorded that this play had something special to offer Madrid audiences. Its sets, stage machinery and dance interludes would provide an agreeable evening “of grand spectacle”.
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- Information
- Theatre and Politics in Nineteenth-Century SpainJuan De Grimaldi as Impresario and Government Agent, pp. 63 - 108Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1988