Baroque Theater: Types of Dramas and Representation Elements

Baroque Theater: Types of Dramas

In Baroque theater, two main types of dramas were represented: serious and comical.

Long Works

Long works can be classified as follows:

Serious Dramas

• Tragedies: Present pitiful disasters, emotionally involving the audience.
• Tragicomedy: Explore a variety of topics, usually related to honor.
• Autos Sacramentales: Religious works celebrating the Eucharist.

Comic Dramas

• Comedy Swashbuckling: Deal with love affairs carried out by gentlemen.
• Comedy of Figurehead: Inserts a comic character into the scheme of swashbuckling comedy.
• Comedy Palate: Sitcoms with noble protagonists.
• Comedy Burlesque: Comedy based on the reversal of values and verbal humor.

Short Works

The Baroque style saw a dramatic proliferation of short dramatic pieces, often interspersed within longer works.

Among the brief dramas of the theater are:

• Starters: Humorous one-act works, often featuring burlesque or erotic matters, or bizarre characters.
• Loas: Used as an introduction to the representation, intended to win public favor and silence.
• Dancing: Performed during the intermediate representation.
• Jácaras: Sung ballads, generally dealing with struggles.
• Mojiganga: Dances consisting of broken and ridiculous movements amid a deafening din.
• Follas: Structures that were mixtures of short comic genres.

Elements of Representation

Visual Elements

In addition to stage directions, some gestures and movements were implicit in the dialogue.

Costumes quickly communicated the character's status to the public and located the place and time of action. The construction of costumes and scenery often overlapped.

Curtains represented interior spaces, while the exterior was suggested. The characters' words alluded to aspects unseen by the public.

Props presented the place, enabled players to perform actions, and provided information about the characters. Candles and torches were used for lighting.

Hearing Elements

Noises performed various functions: announcing the commencement of action or a character's entrance, supplementing or replacing action.

Music highlighted the action and indicated changes of place and entrances/exits of characters. Music acquired greater relevance in court theater and sacramental plays.