According to insiders, the actors were not good. They made people cry when they were supposed to elicit joy, and the audience laughed when the script was aiming for emotion.. To make matters worse, these Creoles who embraced the drum profession were not at all convincing as they were taught by very traditional Spaniards, who imposed dialects and ways of moving and behaving according to peninsular customs that were far removed from the customs here. But as there was little to entertain at the Viceroy of Buenos Aires, the theatre, no matter how wretched and with improvised actors, was necessary on Sundays between four and seven in the afternoon.
Until then, theatrical performances were isolated, linked to the religious and political spheres, and free, but… It is paid for by the elite citizens of Buenos Aires.
Governor Juan Jose Vertiz He ordered the construction of a theater hall that would be called the House of Comedy, but the popular proverb defined it as the House of Comedy Rancheria Theater.
Located on the corner of Alsina and Perú, it became one of the first places (some authors indicate that there was a room there in 1757) where dramatic pieces were performed in Buenos Aires. In this way, this space was transformed into a meeting place.
Vertez eared the Spaniards Francisco Velardiwho was born in 1742, to do the work. He promised to build it, deliver two thousand pesos annually to the Home for Foundling Children, and abide by everything the Cabildo ordered.
The one in Ranchería de los Jesuitas or Missions was a A shed with mud brick walls and a thatched roof The Jesuits allocated it to store products that came from missionaries and also from black slaves.
The facade of the building is 30 meters and its depth is 63 metres. It had a large door in the front and two doors on the sides that opened to the outside. Facilitating evacuation in the event of a fire. Two iron chandeliers with tallow candles hanging from their ceiling, and lamps illuminating the stage, which was not large.
The spectators were divided between wooden benches in the courtyard, and those sitting in the first rows had backrests. Black people can’t sit there. Then came a few more rows of seats and finally the place where you can watch the performance while standing. On the sides are four boxes and the place of honor is reserved for the Viceroy. The boxes were the only space that men and women could share. Otherwise, they would have to be separated. A man cannot approach the women’s sector, nor can he approach the women in the courtyard.
But eventually, different social sectors mixed in the same environment, and the local elite shared the same buildings with the lower classes.
The manager was Spanish Antonio Arnazwho was appointed to the peninsula by a merchant resident in Cádiz, not only to manage the chamber but to teach how to sing and compose music for the pieces to be performed. For this reason, he formed an orchestra consisting of four violins, a basso, two flutes, and two horns, which was performed by Musical slaves.
Arnaz signed the contract on December 10, 1787 and stipulated that it would be his salary A quarter of total profits Which the chamber would give, deducting the salaries of the employees and the amount that went to the foundlings and the ground rent.
It was always difficult for him to raise 80 pesos a month In due course they paid him in installments of 20 or 30 pesos. On one occasion he had to resort to the authorities.
The actors were assisted Two indicators. Moreover, it was The staff who charged the entrance fee, which costs two riyals, and another person who organized the dressing room. There were also four workers, a carpenter and two hairdressers, one for men and one for women.
Those who have protested angrily have been the clergy ever since Theatrical content associated with obscenity It is contrary to good customs and the Christian faith. This forced Vertez to prepare something like an instruction of twenty articles. Works to be interpreted had to undergo review by a group of censors, although this material was approved by the Spanish court; Measures were stipulated to avoid fires, and actors were not to deviate from their scripts or… Improvise jokes that could be misinterpreted; They recommended being polite and not appearing in immodest clothing.
These instructions included placing a piece of wood on the edge of the stage, covering the models’ feet.
It is impossible to promote a work bearing the names of actors, since then They were all brilliant unknowns. In the most important dramatic works, women’s roles were played by men.
It was officially opened on Sunday November 30, 1783. The first theatrical work by a Creole author was first performed in Buenos Aires during the Carnival of 1789. “Serebo” by Manuel de Lavardina tragedy in five acts. It has made history as the first work by a Creole composer to be premiered in Buenos Aires.
Dramas, burlesques, arias and prose zarzuelas were performed on the stage. In general, the actors recited and sang, and many pieces ended with dancing.
To see if there was a job, they lit a lantern in front of Angelitos Pharmacy in Chacabuco and Alsina.
The stars of the time were, for example, Juan Antonio CarcamoAn Andalusian with a prison past. Chilean Domingo Salazar also stood out. Among the women is thirty-year-old Botosina Josefina Sumaloa and Escobar He didn’t have good chemistry with the audience. She was replaced by Josefa Ocampos, an 18-year-old married to Ángel Rodríguez, also an actor.
It was not at all easy for a woman to devote herself to theatre, as is the case for many It was an indecent task and some neighbors linked it to prostitution. There were cases where a woman’s family viewed this activity as an insult to her reputation and honour.
There was competition for all tastes and the cabildo had to mediate to balance things out. On the other hand, the church pressed for no performances to be held during mass times. Because he made them public; Those in the theater protested because the room had not been full at times since then There was a bullfight Or people went to bet in the cockpit.
It was never known whether this was an accident or was intentional. On Thursday, August 16, 1792, while celebrating the patron saint’s festivities, a missile was fired from the parlor of the Church of San Juan Bautista, in present-day Alsina and Piedras, two blocks away, and hit the thatched roof of the shed. The room burned completely And it was destroyed. The fire destroyed the archive of the plays and Seribo’s first manuscript, which was lost forever.
On the anniversary of the opening of the Ranchería, November 30 was established as National Theater Day.
Aramaz lost his job and settled with his family in Chile where he continued his musical career. The people of Buenos Aires had to wait until May 1804, when it was opened at the corner of Rivadavia and Reconquista, Runway This is never over. There must have been something in that corner, because it was the place chosen to build The first Teatro Colón Which was our city. But this is an argument for another work that deserves a standing ovation.