Lope de Vega and the Conquest of Spanish Theater in the Netherlands

This contribution focuses on Lope’s conquest of Amsterdam’s Grand Theater in the 40s and 50s of the seventeenth century. Focusing on creative industries, we analyze the producer’s side for Lope’s “invasion” in the Netherlands, and the channels that were developed in order to faciltate the new Spanish productions for the Amsterdam theater. Focusing on the consumer’s side, we measure, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the successes (and some failures) of Lope’s plays. In our new data
base ONSTAGE, that gathers information about plays, performances and companies’ revenues, we show convincing evidence that Lope was the most popular playwright in those years in Amsterdam, even more popular than our local playwrights. The article is completed with an inventory of all of Lope’s plays adapted for the amsterdam stage. We hope these new findings may contribute to a more complete picture of Lope’s European career.