Download Renaissance Theatre Background Notes

English
Renaissance
Theatre
th
17
16–
century
Queen Elizabeth
(Reign 1558-1603)
Where have we been?
• Coming out of Medieval
era; Remember, Medieval era was
God-centered
• Medieval Theater
focused on
teaching
morals
or religion
•When theater moved out of
the church, it got out of the
church’s control.
•By the end of the 15th
century, actors were
considered vagabonds and
rogues unless they were
attached to a court.
1558 - Queen Elizabeth
banned all plays with
religious subject
Can I get a comeback?
Universities develop:
 Classical learning
 Students study Roman
plays & perform them
 Students write plays
Can I get a comeback?
 Educated boys with
nothing to do
 People moving into
cities from farms
 More $$ = More free
time = Need for
entertainment
The city of London is run
by city council.
• Didn’t want any
part of theatre
• Strong Puritan
influence
(Middle Class)
So public theatres were
located outside of the city.
BUT in palaces, theatre
was very popular!
In 1572, the actor was
legally recognized BUT:
• Actor & theatre had to
get a license.
• Theatre was under
control of a council.
• All scripts had to be
read & approved by
council.
• Acting troupe had to be
under the patronage
(sponsorship) of a
nobleman.
Bear baiting was a very
popular form of
entertainment.
•Bear chained to a stake
and dogs attack.
•Bear baiting pit – flat,
circular, outdoor area with
fence
Richard Burbage:
•Needed a place to act
•1576 - rented a bear
baiting pit – called it The
Theatre
•Could easily be turned
back into bear baiting pit
The Theatre: Very successful!!
• Fixed place = fixed
audience = need for more
scripts
• After 20 years, could not
renew lease
• Burbage took the stage &
moved it to a new space The Globe.
Let’s talk about
space.
DeWitt
Sketch
(1596)
Swan
Theatre
Discovered
in 1880
Physical theatre structure:
1. Flat, thrust stage
2. Two side entrances
3. Two columns with a
roof
4. Second story platform;
balcony
Physical theatre structure:
5. Discovery space (inner
below) – recessed area
at the back of the stage
used to reveal/conceal
characters or places.
DeWitt
Sketch
(1596)
Swan
Theatre
Yard: area where audience
members stood
Groundlings: those who
stood
Gallery: area where
audience members sat
Claques: paid applauders /
participants
Characteristics of
Elizabethan theatre:
• All actors were men
• Simple sets, but
elaborate costumes
• Emblematic signifiers –
props or symbols the
audience knows
Sam Wannamaker:
•American who moved
to England
•Surprised to find very
little on Shakespeare’s
theatre.
• 1989 - decided to
research The Globe &
rebuild it.
• They found The Globe
foundation.
• Researched the remains,
altered his ideas, & built
The Globe. (1997)
Fun Facts!
• Never went to
college
•
Wife - Anne
Hathaway
•
Lived in London
while his family
lived in Stratford
•
3 kids – Susanna,
Hamnet, & Judith
William Shakespeare
(1564 – 1616):
•Shareholder, actor, and
playwright in the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men & The
King’s Men
•Eventually became part
owner of The Globe
William Shakespeare:
•First Folio –1623 his plays
were published; some
had never been printed
before
•Wrote 37 plays and 154
sonnets.
Hamlet:
•It was very common for
writers to
borrow from
earlier
literary works
Renaissance Humanism:
a new interest in human
experience, and also an
optimism about the potential
scope of human
understanding
So.. God-centered focus
(Medieval) transitioned into
man-centered (Renaissance)
• The purpose of cultivating
reason was to lead to a
better understanding of how
to act
th
th
• By the 16 and 17 centuries
a more skeptical view of
Humanism had developed.
• Stressed limits of human
understanding
The world was a world of
appearances; human beings
could never hope to see past
those appearances into the
“realities” that lie behind them