Historia

The history of the Teatro Español in Madrid can be traced back to 21 September 1583, when it staged its first performance. Its activity continues to this day, making it the oldest theatre in the world in terms of uninterrupted performance.

The story of the Teatro Español begins in 1582 when the Brotherhood of the Sacred Passion and the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Solitude purchased the backyard or stockyard of a private house (basically a vacant lot used to house domestic animals) on Calle Príncipe -  hence its popular name of ‘Corral del Príncipe’, given that it stood on the same street.

With regard to the physical appearance of the ‘Corral’ (the stockyard), the Madrid Town Archive contains a floor plan drawn up by architect Pedro de Ribera in 1735. If you look at the plan of the Teatro Español, you will see that the current structure coincides with the plan drawn up by Pedro de Ribera. It is surprising to see that the stage is located in exactly the same place on both plans.

In 1744, the ‘Corral del Príncipe’ was torn down and a new theatre built on the same site. It was inaugurated in 1745 under the name of the ‘Coliseo del Príncipe’. The theatre was built in the Italian style by Juan Bautista Sachetti, the senior architect of Madrid, with the collaboration of Ventura Rodríguez.

A great fire broke out in 1802 and only the exterior structure of the theatre was left standing. Juan de Villanueva, the architect responsible for the Prado Museum, was commissioned to draw up the new plans. He added an extension to the stage and the façade that we know today, with its balconies and a triangular pediment, typical of the Neoclassical period. The interior decoration followed the decorative style of the time of Charles IV, in line with such models as El Pardo, Aranjuez or the Royal Palace. The theatre, rebuilt on the same site as the previous one, was completed in 1807.

In 1849, during the reign of Elizabeth II, the ‘Corral del Príncipe’ became the National Theatre and was renamed the Teatro Español. The Madrid City Council took it over in 1851, and it has kept the same name to this day.

Throughout the 19th century and the early 20th century, the theatre underwent numerous reforms and extensions until, in 1995, architects Andrés Oñoro and Enrique Ortega carried out the most important extension to date, which included a rehearsal room, a library, a cafeteria and an exhibition hall, as well as offices and storage spaces. They both recall their first chronicles, take a historical look at the Arab world, talk about the changes in the newspaper world, the machismo in the newsrooms and their passion for chronicling the world and wanting to know more.

To enter the Teatro Español is to enter a unique building, not only in terms of its history, but also in terms of its life, its anecdotes and, needless to say, its current relevance. It contains two major spaces: the Main Auditorium and the Margarita Xirgú Hall.

The Main Auditorium, with 735 seats arranged on three floors, each offering perfect visibility and prodigious acoustics. Works by Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Calderón, Duke of Rivas, Zorrilla, Pérez Galdós, Unamuno, Valle-Inclán, Benavente, the Machado brothers, García Lorca, Mihura and Buero Vallejo, among others, first came to life on its stage. Located to the right of the audience at the mouth of the stage, the King's Box is reached by means of the royal lift, which dates back to the beginning of the century and is in a perfect state of repair. The Mayor's Box, on the other hand, is located to the left of the audience, at the mouth of the stage.

In 2006, the former Café del Príncipe was turned into the Margarita Xirgu Hall, a theatre that can accommodate approximately 110 people - the exact number can vary depending on how the tiers of seats are arranged, given that they can be laid out in different configurations: on one, two, three or even all four sides.

Other charming spaces within the Teatro Español include: The Tea Room, which features a turn-of-the-century grandfather clock, is used for institutional events. Originally a private room in which actors and actresses of days gone by would entertain their guests, on account of its beauty, the Tirso de Molina Hall is now used for interviews and as a backdrop for photographs of the artists. The Parnasillo, a place that is particularly memorable as it was here that playwrights would meet with the company for the first reading of their plays. This last-mentioned space was decorated in 1929 with a valuable collection of portraits of artists and writers, unique in its genre, by the painter José Sánchez Pescador. Finally, the Andrea D'Odorico room, situated above the Sala Margarita Xirgu, serves for a wide range of purposes, including press conferences, talks, meetings and exhibitions.

Since that first performance on 21 September 1583, when “neither seats, nor windows, nor corridor” had as yet been built, as the chronicler of the time, Casiano Pellicer, tells us, countless artists from the most varied disciplines have trod the boards of the Teatro Español and it has been steered by various personalities from the world of theatre, such as Isidoro Máiquez, Julián Romea, Rafael Calvo, Benito Pérez Galdós, Jacinto Benavente, Cayetano Luca de Tena, Miguel Narros, Juana de Orozco, Petronila Jibaja, Águeda de la Calle, María Guerrero and Margarita Xirgu.

Today, the Teatro Español is run by Natalia Menéndez, who took over from director Carme Portaceli in 2019. Her immediate predecessors include such renowned directors as José Luis Alonso, José Luis Gómez, Adolfo Marsillach, Gustavo Pérez Puig, Mario Gas and Juan Carlos Pérez de la Fuente.

El Matadero de Madrid was a complex of 48 buildings used as an industrial abattoir and livestock market in the city of Madrid throughout most of the 20th century. Faced with the growth of the city of Madrid and problems of hygiene, at the beginning of the last century, the authorities in Madrid began to give thought to creating an industrial slaughterhouse that would supply the entire city. The pastures of the Dehesa de Arganzuela were chosen as the ideal location and Luis Bellido as the architect. Although work on the complex began in 1911, it was not inaugurated until 1924.

The buildings were grouped into five sectors: production, management and administration, the slaughterhouse, a supply market, a labour market and a sanitary section. It contained housing for the staff, a chapel, its own traffic system and railway, following the German system of isolated pavilions, linked by roads and presided over by an administrative building, the Clock House, located on the ensemble’s main axis. As the slaughterhouse was very close to the front line during the defence of Madrid in 1936, a number of its rooms were used as ammunition depots.

After the Civil War, permission was granted for the complex to be put to other uses and in 1942 a potato warehouse was built which was subsequently converted into a greenhouse in 1992. By 1970, the facilities had become somewhat obsolete so the first interventions were made to put some of the buildings to new uses. In the 1980s, architect Rafael Fernández-Rañada transformed the building that once housed the management and administration offices of the former slaughterhouse, better known as the Clock House, into the home of the Arganzuela Municipal Council. The building used to stable and sell calves was turned into a space for activities of a social and cultural nature. In the 1990s, architect Antonio Fernández Alba transformed the former cattle stables into the headquarters of the Spanish National Ballet and the National Dance Company. In 1996, the space occupied by the slaughterhouse was closed down for good and the premises were classified as a listed building, in accordance with the 1997 General Urban Development Plan.

On 26 September 2005, the modification of the special plan of action, architectural adaptation and urban-environmental control of the uses of the premises of the former municipal slaughterhouse was approved. This plan increased the cultural use of the premises to 75% of the total. From this point on, work began to turn the site into a centre that would provide support for creation. Matadero Madrid was presented to society on 13 March 2006 but it was not until 2007 that the Naves del Español were inaugurated as an extension of the prestigious Teatro Español.

With the opening of the Naves del Español at Matadero, a new era began in the production and presentation of the performing arts in Madrid. The Naves were presented as a space that is open to reflection, experimentation and highly avant-garde proposals, taking into account the fact that its spaces are configurable. In order to adapt these Naves into a stage spaces, the Madrid City Council called on Jean-Guy Lecat, a French stage designer known throughout the world for his surprising productions for directors such as Peter Brook, Jorge Lavelli and Dario Fo, among others. Lecat, together with Mario Gas, the then director of the Teatro Español, and Francisco Fontanals, technical director of the theatre, carried out the project that would define the transformation of these industrial buildings into a centre for the performing arts: the Naves del Español.

The result was a theatre space made up of Naves 10, 11 and 12 of Matadero Madrid, which are all joined together. Nave 12 houses the Naves Matadero Café-Theatre, where audiences can enjoy small-scale musical performances, and which also serves as a foyer or entrance hall for Nave 11, which is where the Fernando Arrabal Hall is located. A multi-purpose space with more than 600 seats, around which dressing rooms, technical work rooms and storage rooms are laid out. Inaugurated in September 2010, Nave 10 contains a large exhibition space, two splendid rehearsal rooms and the Max Aub Hall, a multi-purpose space with a stage and more than 300 seats.

The first performance in the Naves del Español took place on 21 June 2007, in Nave 11, with the opera Ascenso y Caída de la Ciudad de Mahagonny, by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, directed by Mario Gas. More than 80 people participated in the show, including performers, choir and orchestra. Nave 10 opened its doors on 7 September 2010 with the show El Proyecto Youkali, directed by Miguel del Arco. The anecdote that is bandied about is that Kurt Weill featured in both works, given that El Proyecto Youkali takes its name from one of his songs.

Some of the most outstanding figures in playwriting, directing, acting, scenery, lighting, costume design and video creation, etc., in both Spanish and international theatre, have graced the Naves with their crafts. In addition to exhibition rooms, classrooms and spaces are available for public use, including, for example, courses, workshops, talks, meetings and exhibitions. Since its opening, Naves del Español has been run by Mario Gas, Juan Carlos Pérez de la Fuente and Mateo Feijóo (the latter, between 2017 and 2019, under the name Naves Matadero-International Centre for the Living Arts). Since 2019 and now as Naves del Español at Matadero, they operate under the direction of Natalia Menéndez.