Corral de Comedias

The Corral de Comedias can be found through an entrance in the center of the south portico of the Plaza Mayor. The Corral de Comedias is a 16th-century open-pit theater. It is a microcosm within the plaza. A rectangular space open to the sky it is bordered by passageways above which are two levels of balconies. The pit has a patterned cobblestone surface with a central drain. The stage is a roofed platform with entrances at two levels. Such theaters encouraged permanent companies (Seville at one time had seven). At one time the women were separated from the men. They were seated in the first-level balcony (the cazuela) facing the stage. Such balconies had independent stairways. (A church decree condemned the gathering of men and women in theaters except in boxes occupied by the same family.) The ordinance stated that men could not enter the cazuela or talk with women on the staircase or use the passageways that led to the women's area. The prohibition was implacable; lovers resorted to all kinds of ruses including disguises. Decorum was scarcely a hallmark of these theaters - either on stage or in the audience.