Moratin's "La Comedia Nueva" and the Reform of the Spanish Theater

The theater was a burning issue among enlightened Spaniards of the eighteenth century. Shortly after the premiere of La comedia nueva, Moratin sent a copy of the play to the Count of Floridablanca, prime minister of Carlos IV, with these words: Yo le aseguro que las reformas que dispusiera serian admitidas con aplauso y agradecimiento de la naci6n y no seria ista la menor gloria de V. E., aimn con ser tantas las que ya tiene adquiridas. Digo esto, Sefior, en virtud . . de la persuasi6n en que estoy de la necesidad de su reforma y de la esperanza que todos debemos tener de verle reformado, puesto que su renovaci6n es tan digna de la ilustraci6n y el celo patri6tico de V. E.1 The date was 1792. The revolution in France was in full swing-it was only a few months before the Reign of Terror began there-and Spanish ministers had many problems on their minds besides the status of the public theaters. Yet the reform of the Spanish theater was the burning aesthetic issue of the second half of the eighteenth century

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