Loa (Spanish play)

Loa (from Spanish loar, praise ) is the name for one form of the prologue in the Spanish theater of the 16th and 17th centuries. The Loa took the place of the older Introito and usually contains the praise of a person (eg, the notables of the city ) and the content of each piece. It is comparable to the Captatio benevolentiae in antiquity. Traveling theaters usually had a repertoire of several Loas, they were able to adapt to the local conditions of their respective venue. Agustín de Rojas Villandrando mentioned this fact in his work El viaje entretenido from the year 1603.