In 16th- and 17th-century Spanish drama, an entremés (plural entremeses) was a short,

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

theatrical performance of one act, usually played during the interlude of a performance of a long

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

tic work. The ''entremés'' form later evolved into the ''

sainete A sainete (farce or titbit) was a popular Spanish comic opera piece, a one-act dramatic vignette, with music. It was often placed at the end of entertainments, or between other types of performance. It was vernacular in style, and used scenes of lo ...

''. Dictionary of the Literature of the Iberian Peninsula 0313287325 Germán Bleiberg, Maureen Ihrie, Janet Pérez - 1993 Benavente's role in the development of the entremes was comparable to that of Lope de 'Vega in drama. Besides writing more entremeses than any of his contemporaries (150 are attributed to him), Quinones de Benavente was the major . When the genre begun, it was written both in

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

and

verse (poetry) A verse is formally a single metrical line in a poetic composition. However, verse has come to represent any grouping of lines in a poetic composition, with groupings traditionally having been referred to as stanzas. Verse in the uncountable ...

, but after

Luis Quiñones de Benavente Luis Quiñones de Benavente or Luis de Benavente y Quiñones (1581 in Toledo – 1651 in Madrid) was a Spanish writers of entremesista of the Siglo de Oro The Spanish Golden Age (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Siglo de Oro'', , "Golden Century ...

(1600–1650) defined the genre, all works were written in verse. The usual characters of the entremés were the common people; the plot usually satirized the customs and the occupations of the characters, subjects that couldn't be treated in the dramatic works during which the entremés works were played. Sometimes the playings included songs that were the origin of another genre, the

tonadilla Tonadilla was a Spanish musical song form of theatrical origin; not danced. The genre was a type of short, satirical musical comedy popular in 18th-century Spain, and later in Cuba and other Spanish colonial countries. It originated as a song typ ...

. Some of the most important authors of this genre are:

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

Francisco de Quevedo Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas, Order of Santiago, Knight of the Order of Santiago (; 14 September 1580 – 8 September 1645) was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, ...

Luis Vélez de Guevara Luis Vélez de Guevara (born Luis Vélez de Santander) (1 August 1579 – 10 November 1644) was a Spanish dramatist and novelist. He was born at Écija and was of Jewish converso descent.Antonio Dominiguez Ortiz, "Los judeoconversos en Españ ...

, Alonso Jerónimo de Salas Barbadillo, Alonso de Castillo Solórzano,

Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza (158622 September 1644) was a Spanish dramatist. Biography Hurtado was born in Castro Urdiales, Cantabria. He became page to the count de Saldaña (son of the duke de Lerma), and was recognized as a rising poet by Mi ...

Francisco Bernardo de Quirós Francisco Bernardo de Quirós (1580 - 1668) was a Spanish entremesista of the Siglo de Oro The Spanish Golden Age (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Siglo de Oro'', , "Golden Century"; 1492 – 1681) was a period of literature and the The arts, ...

, Jerónimo de Cáncer y Velasco,

Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (17 January 160025 May 1681) (, ; ) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, and writer. He is known as one of the most distinguished Spanish Baroque literature, poets and ...

, Vicente Suárez de Deza y Ávila, Sebastián Rodríguez de Villaviciosa,

Agustín Moreto Agustín is a Spanish given name and sometimes a surname. It is related to Augustín. People with the name include: Given name * Agustín Adorni (born 1990), Argentine footballer * Agustín Allione (born 1994), Argentine footballer * Ag ...

, and

Francisco Bances Candamo Francisco Antonio de Bances y López-Candamo (April 26, 1662 – September 8, 1704) was a playwright of the Spanish Golden Age. Bances Candamo was born in the mountains of Asturia. His father was a tailor, who died when Bances Candamo was eleven ...

References

Theatrical genres History of theatre Literary genres Spanish literature 16th century in Spain Spanish Golden Age {{Europe-theat-stub

See also

References