La escuela de la amistad o El filósofo enamorado en la prensa española de la Ilustración: reposiciones tras la muerte de Forner (1800-1834)

Abstract

This article studies one of the dramatic productions of Juan Pablo Forner, his only complete long play that we have preserved today, La escuela de la amistad o El Filósofo enamorado, (The School of Friendship or The Philosopher in Love), premiered, before the general public, in Madrid, at the Teatro de la Cruz, on Wednesday, January 28, 1795. Research is being made on the impact of the staging of this text in the years after Forner’s death, until the end of Ferdinand VII’s reign in Spain, as reflected in the Spanish press of the time, the acceptance it received from the public who attended the theatrical venues and by the critics who took care of it, the box office proceeds it obtained in the sessions, the structure of the dramatic performance in which it was included, the theatrical companies that were in charge of the montages, the revivals of which it was subjected. All this will prove that El Filósofo enamorado (The Philosopher in Love) was a successful comedy, demanded by the audience, who regularly attended the shows in which, in the theaters of the period, an important and essential participation was reserved for it.