Spain's artistic Golden Age produced Cervantes's great novel, Don Quijote, the sublime poetry of Quevedo and Góngora, and nurtured the prodigious talent of Velázquez, and yet it was the theatre that captured the imagination of its people. Men and women of all social classes flocked to the new playhouses to see and hear the latest offerings of their favourite dramatists, and to be seen and heard.
As well as dealing with the lives and major works of the most significant playwrights of the period - Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Miguel de Cervantes, Calderón de la Barca - the Companion focusses on other aspects of the growth and maturing of Golden Age theatre, reflecting the interests and priorities of modern scholarship. These include: the sixteenth-century origins of the comedia nueva; the lesser-known dramatists, including women playwrights; life in the theatre; the Corpus Christi street theatre and minor genres; performance studies; and the critical reception of the drama. The Companion also contains a guide to comedia versification, a full bibliography and advice on further reading.
JONATHAN THACKER is a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford.
Reviews
Jonathan Thacker accomplishes what few are able to achieve by publishing and original and valuable study relevant to varying levels of comedia studies. A practical pedagogical resource that the most seasoned of professors will find simply outstanding. [.] It should most definitely be a required text of any graduate student of the comedia. Without hesitation, I would recommend that serious comedia scholars secure a copy for their collection, for this work is a vademecum of the first order. Its unique compilation of historical development with performance studies and helpful appendices makes this compilation top notch. BULLETIN OF THE COMEDIANTESThe book fulfils its purpose well. HISPANIC RESEARCH JOURNAL
Demonstrates a solid command of the material and a sense of the audience. [.]I strongly recommend A Companion to Golden Age Theatre. [.] A superb reference tool. BULLETIN OF HISPANIC STUDIES
