A loa is a short theatrical piece, a prologue, written to introduce plays of the Spanish Golden Age or Siglo de Oro during the 16th and 17th centuries. These plays included comedias (secular plays) and autos sacramentales (sacred/religious plays). The main purposes for the loa included initially capturing the interest of the audience, pleading for their attention throughout the play, and setting the mood for the rest of the performance. This Spanish prologue is specifically characterized by praise and laudatory language for various people and places, often the royal court for example, to introduce the full-length play. The loa was also popular with Latin American or "New World" playwrights during the 17th and 18th centuries through Spanish colonization. Purpose During 16th century public performances of comedias in Madrid, Spain would begin at 2pm in courtyards and later corrales. Audiences would arrive early and vendors would sell foods. Soon these audiences would become impatient and start loudly hissing, whistling and shouting. One hour before the performance, musicians came onto the stage to sing a ballad (seguidilla) and immediately after an actor or member of the company came on stage to "echar la loa" or "throw out praise" by reciting a loa. Most comedia playwrights (autors) also wrote loas asking the audience for silence in order to enjoy the afternoon of theatre. Loas sometimes did but often didn't have any relation to the full-length play being presented. Loas appeared in two distinct forms. The first was in a monologue form and the second was in the form of a short dramatic scene. In order to gain the audiences attention and appreciation, one could commend the story or the author; reprimand negative critics or thank those that were positive and the audiences present that day; discuss and argue about the play that was to be presented. The third method was not often used because audiences would be told the outcome of the play before they were able to hear it. In turn, the Spanish loa was created as a mixture of all of these methods of achieving audience appreciation before the full-length play began. Spanish writer, literary theorist, and critic, Armando Cotarelo Valledor (1879-1950) classified Spanish loas into these five categories: Loas sacramentals were used before autos sacramentales, or allegorical religious plays. Loas a Jesucristo, la Virgen y los Santos (Loas for Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints), because of their