Abstract

Abstract:

In November 1640, at the Colegio de San Pedro y San Pablo in Mexico City, the Society of Jesus offered the newly arrived viceroy of New Spain, the Marqués de Villena, a performance of the Comedia de San Francisco de Borja, written by Matías de Bocanegra. Bocanegra based this piece on the biography of the saint written by Ribadeneyra, particularly the section in which the latter discusses Borja's path to holiness. This study focuses on some of the peculiarities regarding the use of scenic resources in the staging of the work. For example, the school's Senior Studies patio was set up with planks for both seating and the stage, while the back wall of the stage was decorated with a "brush arch" with three doors: a triumphal arch. I underscore the onstage presence of the "brush arch" and how it contributes to the understanding of the physical and dramatic space of the work, to the development of the action, and to the laudatory purpose of the piece. The actors were all male students around fourteen years old, a detail worthy of consideration in a play that includes female characters and characters that age considerably between the first and third acts. The information provided in this study forms part of a general effort to enrich our knowledge of Jesuit theatrical production in seventeenth-century New Spain.

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