National Holidays: This is the story of the first theatrical work of republican Peru

“The tyrants flee in haste from the capital: the people eagerly long for the sweet moment to embrace their friends, their brothers, their undefeated liberators in their arms.”. Don Manuel and Don Lorenzo talk in an apothecary Lima. They are happy about the arrival of the liberating army, but their positions diverge: the first is not excited and in the ideal of building a nation, while the second prefers calm and is not sure that what is coming is a path simple.

–in a republican government -Supports Don Manuel-, destiny must seek man, not man to destiny; that is, they must request virtuous and capable men, and accommodate them in those destinations so that they are fit. Everyone will then work to make themselves useful, regulating their conduct in the best way..

–But it’s impossible Don Lorenzo retorts.

–I can see that –responds the first–, at least let us rejoice when we see that an American is placed, or those who adopted our glorious system from the beginning: any of them is our compatriot, our brother, and therefore worthy of all our affection.

It is July 9, 1821 and the army of General San Martín has just entered Lima. The separatists are happy to be born as an independent nation and this is evident in “The patriots of Lima on happy night”, a theatrical comedy in two acts that shows don Manuel and don Lorenzo and eleven other characters embracing the republican ideal.

“The work celebrates the triumph of the Homeland, and in it, together with the male characters, the virtuous woman is represented, ready to take up arms to achieve the objectives of freedom –explains the researcher Rebeca Raéz–. In the scenic imaginary, women are part of the destiny of the Republic, they have opinion and action, and for this reason San Martín enunciates the distinction ‘to the Patriotism of the most sensitive’. The vision of female participation in this work is the historical consequence of the influential figures who collaborated in strategic ways in the nationalist war. Mistresses and spies, with military rank and experts in weapons, seductive and manipulative; there are fascinating women both for their beauty and their intelligence, who were close to Simón Bolívar and San Martín, and supported libertarian actions”.

As Ráez notes, it is With the arrival of San Martín to power, the vision of theater and those involved in said art changes. “The best thing that could happen was the pronouncement of Don José de San Martín on the last day of 1821. There, he dignified the theater: ‘the scenic art does not cause infamy to those who profess it, those who exercise this art in Peru may hold positions public‘”, account. In addition, on April 24, 1822, the new Republic decided to use it to meet the need for a process of symbolization for the construction of the notion of homeland. “The theater becomes that primary place of communication, which is why the recently established government encouraged people to attend the shows”, he adds.

playwright and researcher Miguel Angel Vallejo Sameshima notes in his research “Ricardo Palma within the theater of Peruvian independence”, that, during the period of Independence, the tables were made available to the “agitation and propaganda of the causes they defended”. In addition, the author notes that most were praises, hors d’oeuvres or dramatic proclamations, being “The patriots of Lima on the happy night”, an exception due to its length.

Vallejo Sameshima attributes certain characteristics to the productions of the period of interest: neoclassical aesthetics, brief, without plot or defined characters, which include “long speeches with clear and direct political ideas“, and the “use of speech acts to insult or ridicule an adversary while highlighting the valor and nobility of the side with which one takes sides”.

This can be seen, for example and according to the historian Jesús A. Cosamalón in his paper “The union of all: theater and political discourse in the Independence, Lima 1820-21”, in criticism of the fights between castes, a terrible legacy attributed exclusively to the conquerors; and to the dream of their union, in which, without differences, Independence is supported. The ideal would materialize when, on August 3, 1821, San Martín declared the indigenous citizens citizens and allowed them to enter the army.

In this regard, Vallejo Sameshima explains to El Comercio: “This phenomenon is understood because there are two sides in dispute. On the one hand, there are the independentist patriotic Creoles, and on the other, Spaniards and Creoles who were with the crown. It must be remembered that here, the desire for independence was complex. For example, in the constitution of Cádiz of 1812, which was distributed en masse in cities like Lima, there were already intentions to make the indigenous citizens citizens, and there were those who preferred to follow the path of the crown.”.

The theater, of course, was also filled with these reformist ideas.

“There is an anonymous work from 1820 called ‘Lord Cochrane’s attack on Callao’, whose neoclassical aesthetics even included creatures that shouldn’t speak, but did. The city of Lima, which appears as a character, is one of them. –adds–. How was it represented? Probably, as it used to be at the time: with readings”.

According to the researcher, said work seeks to caricature the patriotic characters, who are shown as fools and villains. There, Cochrane is a vile character who denies anything and kidnaps some chickens, San Martín says that if the people of Lima do not want to separate from the Crown, he will force them, while Lima’s speech is one of fidelity to Spain.

It is also interesting what Vallejo Sameshima collects, who notes that these works are of low aesthetic quality, both because of the absence of a theatrical tradition and because of the “rush to present them”.

Indeed, the scholar Guillermo Ugarte Chamorroto whom much of what is currently known about “The patriots of Lima on the happy night” is owed, agrees. This work, for example, was written by Miguel del Carpio in 23 days, and then mounted in the Coliseo de Lima.

In his investigation “’The patriots of Lima in the happy night’. The first comedy of independent Peru”, Ugarte Chamorro notes: “[Es] difficult to imagine the staging of a historical event when it was still occurring or had just occurred immediately. Our doubts were dispelled when we learned the theatrical date of August 1, 1821. [la fecha de estreno]because referring the drama to the happy night of July 9, we could understand that there was enough time to write it and rehearse it”.

Ugarte Chamorro also refers to the creator of the piece. “The author must have been a more or less well-known writer and a fervent patriot. MC [Miguel del Carpio] He was the most prolific author of those years and also an ardent patriot who, in plays, odes and newspaper articles signed with those same initials, constantly celebrated the greatest Peruvian and American civic events.”.

Just as “Los patriotas de Lima en la noche feliz” by Del Carpio has merit for reflecting patriotic sentiment (although not so much literary, according to Ugarte Chamorro), “Libertas o la Independencia del Perú” by Arturo Molinari, has a similar contribution, only that seen from the first centenary of the national Independence.

The difference in looks is remarkable. This is how Vallejo Sameshima notes it in his critical study, which is part of the book recently published by Maquinaciones Narrativas publishing house and which bears the same name as Molinari’s work. The passage of a hundred years is not in vain: “[esta obra] proposes a reconciliation between social groups, as well as a deep reconciliation with Spain, that is, with the viceregal heritage”.

For the researcher, that characteristic is the most important. “Let’s say that until 1821, the works found by Ugarte Chamorro or Vargas Ugarte are for or against Independence, but, from that date on, they are all in favor of the feat”, he declares to this newspaper.

Vallejo adds that, after the propaganda era, it takes a long time for the Spanish to not be seen as outright enemies. Two examples: “Rodil” (1852) by Ricardo Palma, which shows a vile Spaniard who, after being reunited with his lost son, redeems himself; “La espía” (1862) by Manuel Asencio Segura, in which an indigenous woman marries a Spanish lieutenant on almost equal terms, and where “the Spanish are not bad and the patriots are not all good”. But later, the idea seems to fade with the arrival of romanticism and costumbrismo.

That is where “Libertas” is located, a work that breaks with the idea that the Spanish are only intriguing, abusive and murderous conquerors. “It seems to me that it is so because a hundred years have passed and it is no longer necessary to make propaganda”, Vallejo notes, not without first noting that Molinari’s creation was not included in the official program of the celebrations for the first century of independent Peru.

Miguel Ángel Vallejo Sameshima, a specialist on the subject, agrees with the researcher Guillermo Ugarte Chamorro, who has been contemplating works since 1786. He affirms: “According to my thesis, the first work in this regard was ‘Loa al brigadier Don Sebastián de Segurola’, written by Pedro Nolasco Crespo in that year. It is true that the author is Bolivian, from La Paz, but it affects this context. In a neoclassical style, it speaks of merit, there is a choir of musicians, all the Bolivian provinces speak and even the city of La Paz. The work criticizes Túpac Amaru and praises Segurola, who surely was a soldier assassinated by the revolution, an event that was barely six years before. There the defeat of Túpac Amaru is celebrated, but a unity is shown”.