Why did Lope de Vega’s plays use little stage scenery?

Lope de Vega’s plays utilized minimal stage scenery primarily because they were performed in corrales—improvised or permanent theatres built within the courtyards of residential buildings. These venues were not designed with the elaborate, perspective-based scenery found in the Italian model.12

Instead, the corrales featured a stage that stretched across one end of the courtyard, often incorporating an inner stage at the back. This environment was specifically well-adapted for rhetoric and poetry, relying on the audience's imagination to visualize the setting rather than physical set pieces. While these stages did include some technical elements, such as trapdoors and machinery above for flying objects or people, the focus remained on the spoken word and the intricate plotting of the comedia rather than visual spectacle. This approach allowed the theatre to remain a flexible, robust medium that could effectively serve all social classes.13