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History of Drama
Medieval and
Renaissance Drama
Medieval Drama
 Earliest
evidence of theatre
in the Middle Ages is the
Liturgical Drama.

These Roman Catholic
“plays” were performed
on Easter and sung in
Latin.
Medieval Drama
 Performers
and nuns.
 As
included priests, choirboys,
popularity rose, the plays
were also performed on
Christmas, and they were
translated into many
different languages.
Medieval Drama
 Liturgical
dramas branched off into Saint
Plays and Mystery Plays.
 Saint
plays are based on legends of the
saints.
 Mystery
history.
Plays are based on biblical
Medieval Drama

Early plays were staged in churches, on
platforms called mansions.
 Eventually,
the plays left
the church
and were
performed in
town
squares.
Medieval Drama
 By
the late 14th Century,
the medieval craft guilds
had taken over the
presentation of liturgical
drama.
 Toured
the country and
presented plays on
pageant wagons, which
were stages on wheels.
Medieval Drama
 The
upper level was
a platform stage.
 The
lower level was
a dressing room.
 Each
wagon was decorated according
to which play was being presented.
Medieval Drama
 Secular
dramas, known as folk dramas, also
developed quickly.
 Usually
performed at
festivals during planting
time, harvest time, and
Christmas.
 Include
famous stories
such as Robin Hood.
Medieval Drama

Soon the church also began producing plays
not meant for a specific holiday celebration.

These Morality Plays taught right from wrong by
taking on the form of allegories.

Symbolic characters represented abstract
qualities, such as hate, sin, lust, etc.

Everyman is the only Morality Play that is still
performed.
The Renaissance in Italy
 The
greatest theatrical contribution from the
Italian Renaissance was the opera.
 Attempted
to revive the
simplicity and humanism
of Greek Drama.
 Emphasized
a solo vocal
line and simple instrumental
accompaniment.
The Renaissance in Italy

Commedia dell’arte or comedy of the profession
was also performed.

This was a specialized type of drama based on
comic improvisation.

There were no completed scripts—only plot outlines.

Most plays dealt with fathers putting obstacles in the
way of their children falling in love.
The Renaissance in England

Christopher Marlowe
was the first
playwright to write in
unrhymed verse.

His plays, including
Tamburlaine the
Great, The Jew of
Malta, and Edward II
present the glory and
horror of the age.
The Renaissance in England
 His
most famous
production, however,
is Doctor Faustus.
 Story
of a man who
sells his soul.
 Bridges
the gap between the
medieval age and the Renaissance.
The Renaissance in England

Ben Jonson was a
master of English
comedy.

Wrote Volpene, The
Alchemist, and Every
Man in his Humour.

Widened the scope of
humor so that any strong
personality trait made a
character laughable
The Renaissance in England

William Shakespeare is
considered to be the
greatest playwright of
all time.

The plays were meant
to be seen by a
boisterous audience
accustomed to
shouting approval and
hissing displeasure.
The Renaissance in England
 The
plays kept the audience’s attention
by being exciting, moving, and violent.
 Therefore,
read.
they are better seen instead of
The Renaissance in England

The characters form the central interest of
Shakespeare’s plays, and personalities were almost
immediately defined.

Since there were no programs, he used soliloquies to
delineate characters.

These are speeches delivered by an actor alone on
stage that reveal the character’s most inner
thoughts.

Ben Jonson is known to have said, “Shakespeare
was not of an age, but for all time.”
The Renaissance Playhouse
 In
Renaissance
theatres, the audience
stood around a
platform stage.
 The
playhouses were
many-sided buildings
with two levels for
acting and three for
seating.
The Renaissance Playhouse
 Since
the stage was in the center
of the room, little to no scenery
was ever used.
 Behind
one side of the stage was
the tiring house, which functioned
as the actors’ dressing room.
 Underneath
the stage was a cellar
and trapdoor that allowed actors
to disappear in the middle of a scene.
The Renaissance Playhouse
 Above
the stage was the
Heavens, or a roof supported
by two ornate columns.
 Painted
on the underside
were the sun, moon, stars,
clouds, and zodiac signs.

Actors often spoke of heaven and earth, and would
point to these symbols to create the illusion of a
microscopic universe.
The Renaissance Playhouse
 Above
the Heavens was a very
small house known as the
scenery hut.
 This
structure housed the
machinery that raised and
lowered actors to the stage.
 When
a play was about to start, a trumpeter
played in the tower above the scenery hut and
on the days of performances, a flag was flown.
The Renaissance Playhouse

Because there was no electricity at the time, the
area surrounding the stage, known as the pit, was
open for the sky to supply sunlight.

The members who paid a penny to sit in the pit were
known as groundlings.

These people were generally apprentices, soldiers,
sailors, country folk, and “cut-purses” or “pickpocketers.”

The pit consisted of ash, sand, and hazelnut shells,
because the audience frequently ate during a play.
The Renaissance Playhouse
 The
more refined audience
members occupied gallery
seats at an additional fee.
 The
most expensive seats
were next to, above, or
even on the stage.
The Renaissance Playhouse

The first public playhouse
in England was built in
1576 by James Burbage.

Referred to simply as the
Theatre and located just
outside of London.

Later, in 1599, the most
famous Renaissance
Theatre, named the
Globe Theatre was built.
The Renaissance Playhouse
 It
was named as such because of its round
shape.
 It
was here that
Shakespeare produced
most of his plays.
 However,
in 1613 it burned
to the ground.
The Renaissance Playhouse
 It
was immediately rebuilt and operated until
1642, when all English theatres were closed by
the Puritans.
A
modern
reconstruction of
the theatre, renamed
Shakespeare’s Globe
opened in 1997.