Celebrities and the stage

Theatrical stardom in early modern Spain

Bibliographic Data

ID11499407
AuthorsAlejandro García‐Reidy (0000-0003-4565-3438, Syracuse University, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume32
Issue2
Pages165-182
Publication date2018-04-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRenaissance Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0269-1213 • E-ISSN: 1477-4658
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/rest.12251
OpenAlexW2507395926
LanguageEN
Citations received2

This article seeks to apply a number of concepts and approaches developed by celebrity studies during the past decades in the field of early modern theatre. More specifically, I will focus on the commercial theatre that developed in Spain from the 1560s onwards. This dramatic practice represents a privileged vantage point from which to observe how a number of key dynamics related to celebrity culture came into play within the context of early modern society, as the characteristics of this business and its cultural impact allowed for the emergence of processes of celebrification among performers. This study focuses on the characteristics of this theatre that made it possible for an early modern version of celebrity to emerge, such as the large role that actresses played in its success or the contact with performers that a wide variety of audiences enjoyed all along the country. I also analyse how actors and actresses were subject to forces of commodification, eroticization and the public's attention to their private lives, which led them to become early modern stars

Aesthetics · Art · Celebrity culture · Commodification · Context (archaeology · Drama · Field (mathematics · Media studies · Sociology · Subject (documents · Visual arts · Early Modern Women Writers · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · History · Spanish Literature and Culture Studies

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access