Frederic Soler i Hubert (Barcelona 1839 – Barcelona 1899) initially made a name for himself in the world of festival and carnival theatre organized by private societies, using the pseudonym “Seraf Pitarra”. Plays such as Don Jaume el Conquistador, L’engendrament de Don Jaume, La botifarra de la llibertat, Les píndoles de Holloway,and L’Esquella de la Torratxa were great crowd-pullers and launched Soler’s popularity. A professional company was founded: La Gata (1864-66); its performances, known as gatades, developed into quality plays and operettas in the costumista style (e.g. Un barret de rialles). These were written in colloquial Catalan, far removed from the literary norm, and often parodied more sophisticated, well-known works; thus, Lo cantador was a reference to the play El trovador by Garca Gutirrez. His work was published in a highly successful collection under the self-deprecating title of Singlots poetics (“Poetic hiccups”); it appeared in weekly instalments under the imprint of the hugely popular publisher Innocenci López Bernagossi.

Motivated by literary ambition, Soler (abandoning his pseudonym Seraf Pitarra) attempted more complex entertainments, combining his characteristic costumisme with romantic plotlines. The new formula was put to the test with Les joies de la Roser (1866), which brought him success and critical acclaim. While continuing to write gatades (signed Pitarra), he founded a new enterprise, the Teatro Catala, in 1867, as a platform for his new direction. A string of popular successes followed: Les heures del mas (1869), La dida (1872), La creu de la masia (1873), and Lo ferrer de tall (1879). Batalla de reines (1888) was staged, in a gratifying gesture of official endorsement, in the framework of Barcelona’s Universal Exhibition. The imagery in these plays assuaged the conflicts of the period, and celebrated solid community values and the protective role of traditions. More demanding critics such as Josep Yxart remarked on the lack of literary depth and the mechanical nature of the dramatic resources that often characterized Soler’s theatre. Even so, he never failed to please the public. In his final years, Soler’s drama, though unfailingly successful with the public, had to come to terms with changes in taste manifested in the success of Angel  Guimera.