THEATER CENSORSHIP IN THE GOLDEN AGE, THE

This essay aims to present a diachronic overview of the theatrical censorship system (legislation, practical operation, institutions and people, controversies over the legality of theater) and a study of the material sources (manuscript and printed works, files and other inquisitorial documents) from the point of view of censorship intervention: performance licenses, approvals, textual modifications, etc. The abundant information available (much of it unpublished or little known) allows us to offer extensive documentary support for the theoretical study, which also aims to be a critical synthesis of the bibliography on the subject. Over the years, and under the protection of several research projects subsidized by the National R&D Plan, we have been studying the phenomenon of theatrical censorship in the Golden Ages both from a theoretical level (regulations, controversies, periodization) and from its most practical and tangible aspect, that of the preserved theatrical manuscripts and prints that contain traces of their passage through censorship control and that of the people involved in the procedures. This is the CLEMIT research project (acronym for Censorships and Licenses in Manuscripts and Theatrical Prints).