Download Introduction to Italian and English Renaissance Theatre

Introduction to
Italian and English
Renaissance
Theatre
The Renaissance
• The Modern Age in Europe begins with the
Renaissance, which means rebirth
(approximately 1350-1600 in Europe).
• Thinkers of the Renaissance began to generate
new ideas regarding
• politics
• economics
• Society
• Began to take new approaches to the arts
• Advocated for the maximum potential of human
beings.
Humanism
• Writers and artists of the Renaissance were
conscious about being in a new era with new
values.
• Humanism stressed living in this world, human
dignity, responsible citizenship and the
acquisition of knowledge.
Renaissance English Theatre
English Renaissance Drama
• Roman plays were rediscoverd,read and
performed in
• The English were flexible regarding dramatic
content. As a result, authors built native
English content into classically-based
dramatic works.
Flexibility of English Drama
• The size and design of English theatres made
possible a highly flexible drama – the large,
open acting surfaces were not restricted to a
limited number of locales established by
wagons, etc.
• The large and multi-levelled acting areas of
Elizabethan theatres also made possible a
wide variety of discovery scenes, bedroom
scenes, and disappearance scenes through a
trapdoor on the ground stage level
English Genres
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English sought to create dramatic works that reflected
the spirit and interests of Englishmen of the day.
One genre of drama that emerged during the
Renaissance was the Chronicle History:
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a dramatic genre that recounted heroic events in English
history.
From the Chronicle History, dramatists began to break
away from telling stories purely of historical fact and
they developed the genre of Elizabethan tragedy.
Although often historically-based, these stories were
fictionalized and contained elements of the
supernatural.
English Drama Formalized
• English theatre was controlled by the monarch
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and government.
In England, acting became a legal profession in
the 1570s, though not one that was wellrespected.
Acting troupes required noble patronage and
eventually government licenses.
With the existence of dramatic companies came
the need for dramatic literature.
As a result, English writers began writing scripts
to sell to acting troupes.
The University Wits
• This was a group of university-educated, elitist
authors who became popular during the 1500s.
• Their works were most associated with dramatic
productions.
• They sought to incorporate both classical standards
of drama as well as native English content to their
works, generating new styles that would suit the
developing contemporary stage.
Impact of The University Wits
• As well as combining classical and native
content, The University Wits helped develop
English drama by:
• Extending use of elegant prose and popularizing
blank verse, iambic pentameter, rhyming
couplets.
• Developing comedies that were embedded with
romance.
• Devising complex protagonists and antagonists,
focusing on the motivations of characters within
human worlds (evidence of humanism).
•Theaters in London during
the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
were open-aired. (cross b/w
baseball stadium and a
Greek amphitheater.
The Globe
1.
Theater has four different areas:
a. Below stage (hell; trap door for
exits)
b. Main stage
c. Balcony (also housed musicians
during performance)
d. Attic area (heaven; also housed
special effects)
2. Tiring house was directly
behind the stage
3. The pit was an open yard
directly in front of the stage
in the center of the theater.
4. The gallery was the threestory seating area covered
by a roof.
Patrons dropped their
money in a box at the
entrance. (This was the
origin of “box office.”)
3,000 people could watch the play
in the audience (No patron was
more than 60 ft. from the stage):
•Groundlings (poorer patrons)
paid 1penny (about $0.60 today)
to stand in the pit.
•Wealthier people sat on seats
under the shelter. The more you
paid, the higher your seat was.
•Lords and gentry paid the
most at 1 shilling (about
$7.00 today) to sit on
cushioned seats on or
above the stage.
Plays were performed
between 2:00 and 5:00
in the afternoon.
(Enough sunlight but
not enough to affect the
actors or audience.)
•It was illegal to
advertise plays,
but some
playbills
(posters) were
put up.
•A flag was raised about the
theater to signal a performance
that day.
•red flag – history
•black flag – tragedy
•white flag- comedy.)
• A trumpet
would sound
three times
to announce
the
beginning of
a play.
•Actors were all male
(female parts played by
pre-adolescent boys)
Sets were simple, if any.
Costumes were colorful,
elaborate, and expensive.
Refreshments included beer,
water, fruits, and nuts (many
would be thrown at the actors
by groundlings.)
•James Burbage built the first
playhouse in 1576 and called it
The Theater. (Located in the city
of London)
•Local governments did not
approve of playhouses morally
or politically
•Spreading the plague was also
a worry. The playhouses were
shut down twice during
Shakespeare’s life due to the
plague.
•The Theater was a financial
success and remained so until
it was closed in 1598.
•Before the building could be
torn down, they took the
lumber and transported it
across the river to Southward
and re-created it as The Globe.
•The Globe was then owned by
Shakespeare and several
fellow actors.
•This new theater was an octagonal
structure with an unroofed yard in
the center. It was built of wood
with a straw-thatched roof.
(Nicknamed the Wooden “O”)
•The Globe burnt down when a
special effect sparked and
caught the roof on fire.
•The Globe was rebuilt on the
same site and lasted until 1644
when all the theaters were
closed and torn down.