Why is World Theater Day celebrated on March 27?

That one of the best-known expressions in Spanish is the one used to refer to the ‘drama kings’ is nothing new: it was the Cuban singer La Lupe who popularized that “Yours is pure theater“, but the theater is much more than this. And that is why one of the arts with the most history had to have its own celebration: the world theater day, which is celebrated every year on March 27. At the initiative of the International Theater Institute (ITI), in 1961 the initiative was approved to dedicate a calendar day to this dramatic art and that has led, over time, to promoting entire weeks of theatrical events.

But why is this day celebrated? Precisely because of its importance in this field: this was the day on which traditionally, since the mid-fifties, the season at the Theater of Nations in Paris, the “showcase” to the world of international theater, where different people congregated in order to promote “quality, plurality and diversity” in this art. It was precisely in this Theater of Nations in Paris where, after the Second World War, the Peking Opera, the Berliner Ensemble, the Japanese Kabuki and the Moscow theater were seen for the first time.

Every year, at the international level, the ITI highlights a “recognized theater figure” or “a person committed in heart and soul to the performing arts”, who is invited to share “their reflections on theater and international harmony” on the scenario: it is the annual World Theater Day messagewhich is translated into more than 50 languages.

That person is, in 2023, the Egyptian actress Samiha Ayoub, which defines theater as “a purely human act based on the true essence of humanity, which is life”. 61 years ago it was the versatile (and among all, playwright) French Jean Cocteau who wrote the first message for this day, in which he refused to believe that technology had dealt a “death blow” to dramatic art to end up leading to his land that formula of “If the theater is dead, long live the theater!”.

More than two decades later, the Spaniard Antonio Gala was in charge of writing the message for Theater Day, who defined it as a “weapon of attack and defense shield”, and also as something that throughout history “has comforted the human being, disentangling him from his contradictions, throwing an unreasonable laugh in front of those who oppressed him, reducing the terrible gods to the size of creatures that man had invented to fear or love”.

It is not surprising that theater has its own world day, when you consider not only its contribution to culturebut rather its historical journey: born in Ancient Greece, the theater is about 2,500 years old —it is estimated that this art flourished between the 550 and 220 centuries BC—.

Five curious facts about the theater

• In many theaters, still a light is left on always so that it is never completely dark. The tradition comes from the time when London theaters began to use electric light: a flame was left burning with the theater closed to prevent pressure from building up in the gas lines and an explosion that would eventually set the theater on fire. Although there are also those who say that it gives the ghosts a light to act and that they do not curse the production.
• The revolving theaters They began to be used mainly in Japan, around the year 1750. ‘Les Miserables’ has used this type of platform for many years, with more than 60 turns per performance.
• The two masks representing the theaterone sad and one happy, represent comedy and drama and their choice comes, as does the theater, from Greece: the muse of comedy, Talia, and that of tragedy, Melpomene.
• Seen from above, the Teatro Real in Madrid is shaped like a coffin. It is a difficult fact to appreciate, but it is so. There is a legend that says that the architect who built this building wanted to pay homage to the dead who were in a nearby cemetery.
• Although in Spain there is a superstition that relates the color yellow with bad luck in the theater, in France the same thing happens but with the color green. The yellow color is said because supposedly Jean-Baptiste Poqueli, better known as Molière, would have died on stage when he was wearing yellow, although the story is not entirely true. The green thing makes much more sense: the elements used to dye the actors’ clothes green had a chemical compound that made them sick.

Madrid, the Spanish city with the most theaters

Madrid is, by far, the city with the most theaters in Spain. According to data collected by Statista in 2019, the capital then had nothing more and nothing less than 84 theaters, among them the Spanish Theater, the only one whose location coincides with the one it once had as a comedy theater and, in addition, the oldest stage space in the world with uninterrupted activity, according to data from Europa Press. It is followed, although not closely, by the city of Barcelona, ​​with more than fifty (56, in 2019). In Barcelona is where the Teatro Apolo is located, with more than 110 years of life, one of the oldest active.

With about one twenty theaters there is Seville, although it should be noted that two other capitals of the Andalusian community join this theatrical ‘ranking’: Malaga, with 14, and Granada, with 8. Above the capital of Malaga is Valencia, with 17, while the The rest are around ten: Palma de Mallorca (11), Tarragona (10), Santander (10) and Castellón (9).