The memory of the scene: the interludes of Cervantes at Abadía's Theatre

Abstract

Cervantes’s interludes have become a hallmark of the iconic Abadía Theatre in Madrid. In 1995 José Luis Gómez directed La cueva de Salamanca, El retablo de las maravillas and El viejo celoso. In 2015, Gómez staged these short plays again to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Abadía Theatre. In 2017, Ernesto Arias continued the Cervantine saga on the same venue with a production of Dos nuevos entremeses “nunca representados” cervantinos (La guarda cuidadosa, El rufián viudo llamado Trampagos). This article studies how an artistic continuity can be created from the stage taking Gómez’s 1995 mise en scène as a case study. On the one hand, the study inquires on how and why a specific production can become an artistic phenomenon that perpetuates itself over twenty two years in the cultural memory of a theatrical venue. On the other, the article evaluates to what extent La Abadía has influenced the creation, continuity and renewal of this stage phenomenon.