For generations, scholars of seventeenth-and eighteenth-century Spanish drama have been attempting to define the parameters that characterize the comedia suelta, but to date no firm consensus about the form's textual or generic qualities has been reached. Broadly defined, the term comedia suelta embraces theatrical works written in a variety of styles, including farsas (short, humorous, carnivalesque texts); sainetes (short productions or distinct portions of larger works that are normally danced and sung); eglogas (brief pastoral works, often with sad or somber overtones); entremeses (concise comedic pieces emphasizing the burlesque and the grotesque); and autos (succinct allegorical religious productions frequently tied to the celebration of the Eucharist). Other theatrical forms and subgenres current in Spanish drama of the period might also easily be classified as sueltas, depending on one's particular point of view. © 2012 American Society for Theatre Research.
