Lowering into comedian: conflicts and tactics in the insertion of women in the Rio de la Plata professional theatre (1783-1792)

Abstract

The entry of women into the theatrical activity is one of the main problematic knots in the process of professionalization of comedians in the Hispanic Monarchy’s territories during the Early Modern Period. Specifically, the incorporation of comediennes into a theatrical company contemplated their inclusion within specific corporate networks and the constitution of a new social identity. In this paper we will trace the tensions, negotiations, ruptures and alliances that unfolded within the framework of the incorporation of female comedians in the Teatro de La Ranchería, the first coliseum of viceregal Buenos Aires, between 1783 and 1792. Based on two cases recorded in court cases, that of Josefa Zamalloa y Escobar and that of María Mercedes González Benavidez, we propose to address some particularities of the entry of women in the rioplatense theatrical activity by analyzing the way in which they construct their own tactics, individually and corporately.