Corral de Comedias de Almagro, Castile-La Mancha, Spain

5Sunflower14970 5:00 PM Aug 15, 2014

Wow
It was brilliant ! Amazing to know that this place is still kept and used to this date. Audio guide gives you enough info but I wish I was there to see the actual show.I must come back to see the theatrical work in the festival.

4Rocket_man_in_ESA 5:00 PM Jun 28, 2014

A fascinating comparison with Shakespeare's Globe
The Corral de Comedias is a restored theatre from the 16th Century. The visit costs 3€ and takes around 15-20 minutes. You take your audioguide at the entrance and walk in to the small auditorium, seeing the theatre as the public would have seen it 4 centuries ago. The guide takes you through the history of the theatre and the differences between theatre in Spain - where women were permitted to be actors, if married to the playwright or administrator - and that of other counties where such things were strictly forbidden. This is used to guide you through some of the famous scandals of the old theatre. Although the similarities with a theatre such as Shakespeare's Globe in London are obvious in the construction with the great wooden beams and simple structure, there are also interesting differences: it is the now standard rectangular shape rather than round; the private boxes for the authorities are above the stage, left and right but, like Shakespeare's Globe, this theatre is still in use. You work your way up, to the first and second floor, getting the view that the patrons would have had over the balustrade just below the canvas that now serves as a roof. There really is a sense of stepping back in history through the visit.