La gran comedia de la Baltasara by "Tres ingenios de la Corte"

Although the three poet/dramatists, Lope, Tirso, and Calderón, are undoubtedly the first tier of poet/dramatists of the period, there are other dramatists and other works which merit our attention for various reasons. Among the plays in the forty-seven volumes of collected Golden Age plays in the Biblioteca Nacional there are several written collaboratively: often indicated as being by "tres ingenios de la corte." One of these, La Baltasara, holds particular interest for what it tells us about play production, since all three use well-proven theatrical techniques and practices known for pleasing the crowds. The purpose of this study is to provide an inventory of these elements: character, type of play, collaborative composition, plot and staging recourses that were most successful. It provides a window on the tastes and interests of the play-going public of Spain of the mid-1600s.