Teatro Xicohténcatl

The Teatro Xicohténcatl is the historic playhouse of Tlaxcala's state capital. It stands at Avenida Benito Juárez 21, about 200 metres north-east of the Plaza de la Constitución, and is named after Xicohténcatl Axayacatzin, the Tlaxcalan war leader who argued against siding with the Spanish and whose name the city also carries. Building started in 1870, and the house opened its doors on 5 May 1873.

It was reworked in the 1880s, with works dated 1886, and reopened in 1888. A further remodel came in 1985, the year the Instituto Tlaxcalteca de Cultura took over its running, and in 2000 the state government and the federal arts council (then CONACULTA) funded a third exterior overhaul and new stage equipment through the PAICE programme.

The front is built of Xaltocan cantera stone with a neoclassical touch: twelve columns topped by Corinthian capitals, balustraded balconies and tall round-arched windows. Inside is an Italian-style horseshoe house holding up to 320 people: 138 stalls seats, 30 balcony places, 132 in two tiers of boxes and 20 extra seats. The highlight is the painted ceiling by John Fulton, an American artist who was also a bullfighter, showing the nine Greek muses (Thalia, Urania, Clio, Terpsichore, Calliope, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Erato and Melpomene) in Art Nouveau style against a Tlaxcalan landscape.

Over a century and a half it has staged plays, concerts and film screenings; in 1945 the actress Anita Blanch brought the comedy-drama Siete mujeres here. The state culture institute still programmes music and stage shows, so the surest way to see the ceiling is to book a seat for a performance.