Teatro María Guerrero is one of the main theatres in Madrid together with Teatro Valle-Inclán. Teatro María Guerrero is the home of the Spanish Centro Dramático Nacional (National Drama Centre). The building itself is really marvellous, with a beautiful façade and an impeccable interior full of ornamental motifs. It has to be said that iron is the protagonist material of the building as it is not only present in many decorative elements (as for instance in the boxes), but was also used to build the framework. The building had to be remodelled in order to survive, as we will see later on. It so happens that Teatro María Guerrero is very close to, almost next to, Fundación Mapfre Recoletos, which is another example of how a building can be completely recovered through restoration, as we saw in this blog. Today, we will visit one of the main theatres in Madrid, Teatro María Guerrero, which we will include in our section Restoring is Living. Do you want to come with us?

A THEATRE OF GREAT AUTHORS

Teatro María Guerrero was inaugurated in 1885 and it was then called Teatro de la Princesa. The Marquis of Monasterio had it built with the idea of creating the most distinguished theatre in Spain. In point of fact, the marquis wanted it to be reserved only to the most affluent class. So much so that the theatre did not offer any cheap tickets so that only the aristocratic class could go. Nevertheless, this idea only lasted for a few weeks because soon after its inauguration the king Alfonso XII died. This gave rise to the loss of some priviledges regarding the Madrid aristocracy and thus, the place stopped being accessible to just a small number of people. In 1908, the actress María Guerrero, together with her husband, bought the premises and a period of splendour was inaugurated. Many literary figures of the day, like Perez Galdós, Valle-Inclán or Jacinto Benavente premiered their work there. After the death of the actress María Guerrero, during the Primo de Rivera dictatorship, the theatre became the central office of the Conservatorio de Música y Declamación ( Conservatory of Music and Declamation ). In 1931, the Town Hall of Madrid decided to change its name to Teatro María Guerrero in honour of the actress and businesswoman. Later on, and for some years it became an art school. However, during the Civil War it was vacated until 1940 when it obtained the status of National Theatre. Nonetheless, it was not until 1978 that it became the central office of the Centro Dramático Nacional (the National Drama Centre).

A THOROUGH RESTORATION

On the 1st March 1996, the theatre was granted Cultural Heritage Interest status. Nevertheless, as many years had passed after its construction, a thorough restoration of the building was necessary. This restoration lasted three years, from the summer of 2000 to the summer of 2003, and it had to be carried out in depth in order to get the building back on its feet. And what was worse of all was the fact that termites had deteriorated part of the framework of the building, which also had to be restored. 

The seating area had to be renovated as well, and the architectural elements which had disappeared, with the passing of the years, were able to be revived. Finally, the theatre accommodated a maximum capacity of 550 people. One of the most noticeable changes, regarding its restoration, was the use of the cafeteris space to create a new hall which was named Sala de la Princesa in memory of the previous name of the theatre. In this hall, performances for a small number of people, no more than 80, take place.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…?

The first performance of the theatre, on the 15th October 1885, was a colourful act full of pomp and the cream of society of the time attended. That day, a queen as well as a deposed queen happened to meet there: María Cristina and Isabel II.