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The history of the first and unknown Talía theater that Barcelona had began in the mid-19th century, in the section of the old wall between the Canaletes towers and the Portal del Ángel, next to the cloister of the church of Santa Ana. It was still recent. demolition of the walls that had begun in 1854.
The final destination of blocks 39 and 40 of the Cerdà plan was being discussed; it was a difficult problem to solve and urbanization did not reach the area. For this reason, fairground vendors and theater companies tried to set up their wooden huts to make money while the final result was determined.
One of those businessmen looked at the local land to set up a wooden hut in the space in front of the current primitive Santa Ana church on Ribadeneyra street. In 1867 he took advantage of a wooden hut in Plaza Catalunya, where he would offer dance sessions for holidays and weekend nights.
Such was the success of the venue's attendance that, in the summer of the following year, they thought that, to avoid the brawls that were sometimes organized after the dance, they could make a change of business and set up a stage where they could offer performances. theatrical.
As the venue was not very large and somewhat rudimentary and the possibility of hiring good actors and performing quality works would be somewhat difficult, it was inclined to offer performances of shows inspired by passages from sacred history or Greek mythology.
This, which was successful at first, subsequently lost its audience, so a new change in the venue's offering began again.
Europe, and especially in Paris, had made a splash in the entertainment venues, with the presentation of the cancan, a dance in which a group of dancers wearing colorful long-skirted red and black dresses, in good rhythm, rolled up their sleeves. skirt showing the legs and thighs, which provoked the enthusiasm of the spectators.
The businessman took advantage of the old stage to offer the performance of the dancers and placed tables and chairs to watch the show and, in the process, offer a drink.
Soon the place was invaded by people who wanted to see for themselves the novelty of the new dance that came from Paris. Its owner found success with this spectacle that excited some and scandalized others.
This caused the press of the time to comment daily on the brawls that sometimes occurred at the premises and that sometimes went further than simple words.
On the night of July 4, 1871, at the end of the performance, a very violent revolt was organized that ended the lives of two soldiers.
Despite the strong discrepancy that existed between the audience and those who were against such obscenity, the chronicles of that time, in order to shed some light on what happened, pointed out that the events had coincided with the Mercè Festival of 1871.
Precisely at that time, the king of Spain, Amadeo of Saboya, from January 2, 1871 to February 11, 1873, when he was visiting the city for the festivities, went to the Talía to see in person what They talked about the show. When he was recognized by the spectators who were watching the show, he reciprocated the applause of the audience.
The confrontation between the pros and cons was increasing every day, which caused the authorities to have to take action on the matter, since, every night, not only inside the premises, but outside, there were strong clashes. which ended with the closure of the Talía in 1872.
