Women’s Somatic Training in Early Modern Spanish Theater (Routledge Press, 2017)
Holding my first copy!
Step into early modern Spanish theater, where actresses took on challenging roles by subscribing to various somatic practices. In her groundbreaking study, Elizabeth Marie Cruz Petersen uncovers how women of the theater prepared themselves for success in a highly scrutinized profession.
By examining comedias written by famous playwrights like Lope de Vega, Luis Vélez de Guevara, Tirso de Molina, and Ana Caro, as well as historical documents and treatises, Cruz Petersen reveals how women of the stage transformed their bodies and their social and cultural environment to thrive in early modern Spanish theater.
Cruz Petersen's book, Women's Somatic Training in Early Modern Spanish Theater, is a comprehensive and in-depth study of women actors in seventeenth-century Spain. Unlike other studies, it takes a performance-based approach, using the concept of somaesthetics to explain how an artist's lived experiences and emotions converge in the interpretation of art, resulting in a transformation of self through modifying habit.
This book provides a unique perspective on the performance aspect of early modern plays and sheds light on how women succeeded in a challenging and competitive profession. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of theater, gender studies, and performance theory.
Reviews:
Daniels, Mary Blythe. “Review of Women’s Somatic Training in Early Modern Spanish Theater, by Elizabeth Marie Cruz Petersen.” Bulletin of the Comediantes, vol. 69 no. 2, 2017, p. 139-142. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/boc.2017.0032.
Margaret R. Greer. “Review of Elizabeth Marie Cruz Petersen, Women’s Somatic Training in Early Modern Spanish Theater, Routledge, Londres / Nueva York, 2017.” Annual Lope de Vega: Text, Literatura, Cultura, 2018.
Susan Paun De García, “Review of Women’s Somatic Training in Early Modern Spanish Theater, by Elizabeth Marie Cruz Petersen.” Comedia Performance Vol. 16, No. 1, 2019.
