Decoration on stage: characterization of the decoration trade houses in A Coruña through the Teatro Rosalía Castro reform

Abstract

With more than 170 years of history, the Teatro Ros alía Castro- previously Teatro Principal- has witnessed the development of A Coruña and has been the scenery of the social and cultural life of the city its inhabitants during the last two centuries. Like in a play, when tracing the history of its decoration, trade houses and professionals from various branches emerge; some of them acquire a major role, change their image and location, widen their services or specialise, while others cease working in this play. Taking as a script the documents of the Archivo Municipal concerning the theater, we manage to get closer to a general view of the interior design in A Coruña and the role played by the most important trade houses which worked in the building reforms since the fire of 1867 until the 1940s.