Teatro de Bom Gosto
The Teatro de Bom Gosto was a small theatre in Funchal, built around 1818–1820 near the Teatro Grande and owned by the first Count of Carvalhal, who had it refurbished after 1834. The last known performance there took place in 1838.
Construction, refurbishment and decline
It seems that the existence in Funchal of the Teatro Grande (see that entry), a large and showy playhouse, did not justify the construction of a new theatre, which was given the name Teatro de Bom Gosto (‘good taste theatre’) and was built a few metres away from it. We do not know exactly when it was built, but we conjecture that it was between 1818 and 1820; it certainly already existed in 1821. It stood between Rua de São Francisco and the Misericórdia building (Edifício da Misericórdia) (1921), with access both to that street and to the side of the old Passeio Público (‘public promenade’). We do not know what led to the building of this new theatre, although some years ago we heard it said that it was chiefly owed to a whim of the 1st Count of Carvalhal (‘oak grove’).
We do not know whether that nobleman had it built, but we do know that it belonged to him and that, on returning from exile at the end of 1834, he had major repairs carried out there. It was then transformed into a respectable playhouse with 18 first-tier boxes and 6 second-tier boxes, 230 seats in the stalls and two galleries, one for men and the other for women. We have been told that it was larger than the old Teatro Esperança (‘Hope Theatre’) and that its interior was pleasant and attractive.
We do not know when it closed and ceased to host any theatrical performance. We know only that a show was still staged there in 1838, and it is said somewhere that by then it was already in an advanced state of ruin, which is difficult to reconcile with the repairs carried out there on the orders of the Count of Carvalhal, as mentioned above.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 04-
The Teatro de Bom Gosto was probably built in Funchal.
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The Teatro de Bom Gosto in Funchal is known to have existed by this year.
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At the end of 1834 the first Count of Carvalhal returned from exile to Madeira and ordered major repairs to the theatre.
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The last known performance took place at the Teatro de Bom Gosto.
Place
Places mentioned · 07- Teatro de Bom Gosto · Subject
Funchal
The Teatro de Bom Gosto was a small theatre in Funchal, built around 1818–1820 near the Teatro Grande. It was owned by the first Count of Carvalhal, who had it refurbished after 1834. The last known performance there took place in 1838.
- Funchal
City where the theatre stood.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Misericórdia building
Funchal. Building next to which the theatre stood.
Building next to which the theatre stood.
- Passeio Público
Funchal. Former public promenade onto which the theatre also had access.
Old public promenade in Funchal, the name of the later Praça da Constituição before 1821, with a bandstand used in celebrations. The garrison declared for the revolution there on 29 April 1847, and Popular partisans tried to kill Dr Trindade e Vasconcelos there. The Teatro de Bom Gosto also had access onto it.
- Rua de São Francisco
Funchal. Street onto which the theatre had an entrance.
Rua de São Francisco is a Funchal street beside the municipal garden and the only one there that predates 1834. It was renamed 'Rua 22 de Março de 1921' in 1922, and the Elucidário urges restoring the old name. It lay on the route of the Procissão dos Passos, and the Blandy firm had its offices there for many years.
- Teatro Esperança
Funchal. Older Funchal theatre, smaller than the Teatro de Bom Gosto.
The Teatro Esperança was a small theatre in Funchal, set up by an amateur society of eighteen young men in a warehouse on Rua dos Aranhas and opened in 1859. It was Funchal's only playhouse until 1888 and was renamed after the Conde de Canavial in 1887. It was demolished after 1915.
- Teatro Grande
Funchal. Larger Funchal theatre a few metres from the Teatro de Bom Gosto.
Large opera house in Funchal, built around 1780 facing the São Lourenço palace and reputedly the second-largest theatre in Portugal. It was demolished in 1833 under the absolutist government because it had become a venue for liberal demonstrations, and its demolition created the Largo da Restauração.
People
People mentioned · 01-
First Count of Carvalhal, owner of the Teatro de Bom Gosto, who had it extensively repaired after returning from exile at the end of 1834.