The fame of the actresses who played Celestina, an intertext for the play's reception

Abstract

The famous female actors who played the role of Celestina predisposed audiences to a reception of the play mediated by their "personas", which were the result of their long and well-known professional careers and public images. The actors thus function as one more intertext of the play. Their influence on the expectations of the audiences, and therefore on their reception of the production, can be traced by how the advertising of the productions emphasizes aspects of the actresses' persona and combines them with the character of Celestina. It is also perceived in how each actress, in collaboration with the director and the production team, creates a sole Celestina character that recycles elements of her persona. Especially interesting is how ideals of femininity of each era are negotiated in these incarnations of Celestina played by older female actors who became famous in their youth. Methods and concepts from star studies and études actorales are applied to a selection of famous theater, film and television actresses who played the role of Celestina, from its first staging in 1909 until today.

Keywords

• la celestina
• recepción
• efecto fantasmático
• representación teatral
• actrices