Courtly scenography in chivalric comedias of Castillo Solórzano: «Los encantos de Bretaña» and «La torre de Florisbella»

Abstract

In this paper I analyse the technical resources for the staging of the two chivalric comedies by Alonso de Castillo Solórzano, Los encantos de Bretaña and La torre de Florisbella, in the light of what is known today about stage design in commercial theatres, and especially in relation to the baroque court theatre that developed around the royal court from the end of the 16th century until the early years of the reign of Philip IV. This analysis shows a clear literary and aesthetic relationship between Castillo's texts and works such as La fábula de Perseo, by Lope, La gloria de Niquea, by the Count of Villamediana, Querer por solo querer, by Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza, and La vitoria de España y Francia, by Alonso Jerónimo de Salas Barbadillo. The study also highlights the literary and scenic proximity of Castillo's two plays, perhaps because they were written for the same stage and the same stage machinery, and offers further evidence to suggest that his work as a playwright must have taken place only in the context of courtly pomp, possibly commissioned by one of the lords in whose houses he served for much of his life, especially the Marquises of Los Vélez.