Between the two sides of the drama: theatre as a journey and weapon in the European conquest of the Americas

Abstract

The processes of conquest that have taken place throughout the history of humanity have used various types of weapons (swords, gunpowder, tanks, atomic bombs, etc.) to achieve their objectives. However, the Spanish conquest was somewhat different as it used, in conjunction with traditional weapons, a very rare weapon: the theatre.

Artistic manifestations have always stood out for "merging" in stages that are considered "hybrid zones" as Robert Richard points out. In this sense, both European and indigenous influences and currents have presented the same event, not only from the sixteenth century but during a permanent process can be linked and consider how the theater was a fundamental tool for the development of a part of the shaping of what we know today as the Americas, a region full of transitions.

In the specific case of Mexico, the European conquest produced diverse movements based on the theatrical phenomenon that served the Spanish as a vehicle for the transmission of ideas, concepts, values and even religion. The theatre understood as a re-presentation(s) of the reality(s) between Europe and the Americas.