El espacio en escena

Overview & Synopsis

In an original and rigorous book, Elena Merlino examines the category of space in a little-studied corpus of tragic texts situated in a crucial period for the genesis of the so-called New Comedy. The works of Juan de la Cueva, Cristóbal de Virués, and Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola—pre-Lopean playwrights who represent the earliest phases of the Spanish Golden Age comedy—are explored primarily from a performative perspective. This approach makes it possible to highlight not only phenomena of transition and scenic experimentation, but also the relationship between visible and non-visible spaces—both equally essential to the development of the plot—and the strategies used to construct and articulate stage and dramatic space. By applying a method of textual segmentation that combines the semiological analysis of the theatrical text with theoretical reflection on stage segmentation and spatial articulation, the study reconstructs the theatrical and stagecraft resources that would later become recurring elements of Golden Age theatre, revealing these playwrights’ keen attention to the spectacular dimension of their works.