Andromède

Don Sanche d’Aragon (performed 1650), Andromède (performed 1650), a spectacular play in which stage machinery was very important, and Nicomède (performed 1651) were all written during the political upheaval and civil war of the period known as the Fronde (1648–53), with Don Sanche in particular carrying contemporary political overtones. In…

…tragedy, was commissioned to write Andromède for the remodeled theatre. Although the play progressed through spoken episodes, each act provided an excuse for Torelli to introduce elaborate machinery, including the revolving stage. Until Torelli, the changing of scenery had marked a structural break in the dramatic presentation. Torelli put aside…