Género chico

Under Género chico is understood in the Spanish literature a collective term for one-act plays, vernacular farces with or without music, the Spanish and especially the Madrid Theater busy since 1870, including particularly Sainetes. The Género chico arose as a reaction against the zarzuela grande, the zarzuela in three acts and against the foreign operetta what critics view as an expression of an at least partially xenophobic attitude.

Are defined as champion Ricardo de la Vega (1839-1910), Tomás Luceno (1844-1931), Carlos Arniches (1866-1943) and the brothers Serafín (1871-1938) and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero ( 1873-1944 ).