El Coliseo de la Cruz: 1736-1860 : Estudio y documentos (Fuentes para la historia del Teatro en Espana)

The Coliseo de la Cruz, the first modern public theatre in Madrid, was constructed between 1736 and 1737 on the site of the city's oldest permanent playhouse, the Corral de la Cruz, dating from 1579. The corral, an open-air courtyard theatre, was surrounded by private boxes in neighbouring houses [recently studied in this series by Charles Davis], which only intermittently contributed to the municipal coffers; by 1736, moreover, it was decrepit and ill-suited to current staging requirements. All these factors led the city authorities to replace it by an up-to-date, fully self-contained theatre building with a proscenium stage. The new coliseo was fashioned in the Italian style, but maintained many characteristics of the corral theatres, such as the cazuela [separate women's gallery], and continued to attract a varied audience, representing virtually every level of Madrid society. It saw the first performances of some of the greatest works of Spanish drama, such as Zorrilla's Don Juan Tenorio, as well as many that are long forgotten. Finally, in 1859, the Coliseo de la Cruz, by now inadequate and in ill repair, was demolished to make room for an extension of the Calle de Espoz y Mina in order to alleviate traffic congestion at the Puerta del Sol.