Ch 12 (8th Ed) Ch 13 (7th Ed) Renaissance Theater

Chapter 12

“Renaissance” means rebirth – refers to an awakening of the arts and learning in the western world which occurred roughly from the late 14th century until the early 17th century.

During Renaissance theater blossomed in Italy, England, Spain and France.

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Background: The Renaissance Era Italy was the center of activity As wealth increased,

leisure time did too


Background: The Renaissance Era continued

Art treated subjects as human beings rather than religious subjects

A period of exploration and invention


Italian Theatre: Commedia dell’Arte Intermezzi

▪ Short pieces depicting mythological tales▪ Presented between the acts of full-length plays▪ Often required spectacular scenic effects

Pastoral▪ Short, ribald comic pieces (but not overly sexual)▪ Subject matter is romance▪ Characters are shepherds and mythological

creatures▪ The action is serious but the endings were happy


Italian Theatre: Commedia dell’Arte continued

Opera▪ Invented by people who thought they were

re-creating the Greek tragic style▪ The only Italian Renaissance theatrical form that

has survived▪ Drama set entirely to music▪ Every part is sung▪ Began in Florence, around 1600▪ Always been considered part of music, not theatre



Commedia dell’arte▪ “Comedy of professional artists”▪ Flourished from 1550 to 1750▪ No set text: invented words and actions as they

went along



Commedia dell’arte▪ Scenarios: short plot outlines without dialogue▪ Troupes usually consisted of 10 performers (7 men,

3 women) and travelled▪ Performers played the same stock characters

throughout most of their careers▪ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_0TAXWt8hY


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_0TAXWt8hY


Most popular characters included zanni – comedic and foolish male servants. Most popular one was Harlequin.

Harlequin had a slapstick – wooden sword used in comic fight scenes; today a type of comedy that relies on exaggerated or ludicrous physical activity

All Commedia dell’arte characters used Lazzi – comic pieces of business usually repeated by characters; usually physical and sometimes sexual or obscene

Masks covered part of their faces but Young Lovers did not wear masks.


Italian Dramatic Rules: The Neoclassical Ideals Italian critics formulated dramatic rules:

neoclassical ideals – Rules developed during the Renaissance, supposedly based on the writings of Aristotle.

Dominated dramatic theatre for nearly 200 years

Verisimilitude: drama should be “true to life”


Italian Dramatic Rules: The Neoclassical Ideals continued

Three unities:1. Unity of time – dramatic action in a play should not

exceed 24 hours2. Unity of place – restricted the action in the play to

one locale3. Unity of action – there should only be one central

story, involving a small number of characters; no subplots


Italian Dramatic Rules: Neoclassical Ideals cont’d Tragedy and Comedy shouldn’t mix. Tragedy should

deal with royalty, comedy with common people(like Horace).

All drama should teach a moral lesson Onstage violence was forbidden Chorus and supernatural characters were banished Opposed to the soliloquy – a monologue where a

character reveals their inner thoughts by saying them aloud while alone onstage

Highly prescriptive – telling authors how to write12© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Theatre Production in Italy Italian Renaissance architects revolutionized

theatre construction▪ Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza: oldest surviving

theatre built during the Italian Renaissance – designed as a miniature Roman theater.

▪ Teatro Farnese in Parma – most renowned building and revolutionary because had a proscenium-arch (a rectangular frame that allowed the ability to create more realistic scenery which helped with theatrical realism)


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Completed in 1584, the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy, is the oldest surviving theater from the Renaissance. Stage attempted to duplicate the façade of the Roman scene house and had five alleyways leading off it. Down each alleyway, small models of buildings were created to give the illusion of disappearing perspective. This photo shows the ornate façade, a holdover from Roman theahers, with the five alleyways, two one each side of the central alleyways.© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Completed in 1618, the Teatro Farnese was the first theatre with a proscenium arch – the opening behind which scenery and stage machinery are concealed. The auditorium is horseshoe-shaped and the orhestra is a semicircle placed between the audience and the stage © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Theatre Production in Italy continued

Public opera houses in Venice▪ Designed with “pit, boxes, and galleries”

▪ Pit: where the audience members stood – raucous area where audience could eat, talk and walk around

▪ Boxes: seating for upper class▪ Galleries: upper tiers with open bench seating – cheapest


Theatre Production in Italy continued

Public opera houses in Venice▪ Perspective drawing – creates an illusion of depth and

first introduced in set design during Italian Renaissaince ▪ Groove system: method of scene shifting – system in

which tracks on the stage floor and above the stage allowed for the smooth movement of flat wings onto and off the stage; usually there were a series of grooves at each stage position

▪ Pole-and-chariot: newer, innovative scene-changing system – Giacomo Torelli’s mechanized means of changing sets made up of flat wings


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GROOVE SYSTEM OF SCENE CHANGES

During the Italian Renaissance, the groove method of shifting scenery was perfected. Along the sides of the stage, in parallel lines, scenery was set in sections. At the back, two shutters met in the middle. Together, these pieces formed a complete stage picture. When one set of side wings and back shutters was pulled aside, a different stage picture was revealed.© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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POLE AND CHARIOT SYSTEM This method of changing wings and back shutters was developed by Torelli. When a series of wheels and pulleys below the level of the stage – attached on frameworks to the scenery above – were shifted, the scene changed automatically. Because the mechanisms were interconnected, scene shifts could be smooth and simultaneous.© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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King Henry VIII ( rules 1509-1547) Queen Elizabeth I ( rules 1558-1603)

© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Background: Elizabethan England English Renaissance is often called the

Elizabethan period Its major political figure was Elizabeth I The English were intrigued by language


Elizabethan Drama Christopher Marlowe and the “Mighty Line”

▪ Advanced the art of dramatic structure▪ Contributed a gallery of interesting characters▪ Perfected dramatic poetry


Elizabethan Drama continued

Christopher Marlowe and the “Mighty Line”▪ Marlowe’s “Mighty Line”: the power of

his dramatic verse▪ Plays include:

▪ Doctor Faustus▪ Tamburlaine▪ Edward II


Elizabethan Drama continued

William Shakespeare: A Playwright for the Ages▪ Worked with established dramatic elements

▪ Senecan dramatic devices▪ Platform stage▪ Powerful dramatic verse – iambic pantameter▪ http://www.howcast.com/videos/297008-How-to-Write-a-Poem-

in-Iambic-Pentameter▪ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArrR66OSa0Q▪ Source material from English history, Roman history and drama,

and Italian literature▪ Episodic plot structure with roots in medieval theatre

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Plays of William Shakespeare include:Tragedies:

Romeo and Juliet Julius Caesar Hamlet Othello Macbeth King Lear http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTGWNHa1wIQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjxHdNxvySU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LOfgaSvKz8

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Comedies:The Comedy of ErrorsA Midsummer Night’s DreamAs You Like ItTwelfth NightHistories:Richard IIIHenry IVHenry V

AN ELIZABETHEAN PLAYHOUSEThis drawing shows the kind of stage on which the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries were first presented. A platform stage juts into an open courtyard, with spectators standing on three sides. Three levels of enclosed seats rise above the courtyard. There are doors at the rear of the stage for entrances and exits and an upper level for balcony scenes.© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 26

Elizabethan Theatre Production continued

Marlowe, Shakespeare and their contemporaries were performed primarily in public theaters – outdoor theaters in Elizabethan England

Between 1560-1642 at least 9 open-air public theaters built just outside of London (to avoid govn’t restrictions)

All levels of society attended these theaters Most famous public theater – The Globe Theater –

because home of Shakespeare’s plays



Stage of public theater was a raised platform surrounded on three side by the audience – closer to contemporary thrust stage than proscenium

Neutral playing area that could become many different places in quick succession

In stage floor there were trap doors Behind raised platform was the stage house, known

as a tiring house – Elizabethan stage house – three story building for changing costumes, storing props and set pieces, and served as the basic scenic piece


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GROUND PLAN OF THE FORTUNE THEATERThe only English Renaissance theatre for which we have a number of specific dimensions is the Fortune. From the builder’s contract we know the size of the stage, the standing pit, the audience seating area, and the theater building itself. The building was square, the backstage are ran along one side, the stage rectangular and the audience, both standing and sitting, was on three sides.© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Yard – pit, or standing area on the ground floor, in front of and on the sides of the stage, in Elizabethan public theaters

Lower-class audience members who stood in the yard were known as “groundlings.”


Private Theatres▪ Indoor spaces, lit by candles and high windows▪ Open to general public but smaller, and therefore

more expensive


31 Al Pacino playing Shylock from “The Merchant of Venice” in a Broadway production of the play© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


Scenery and Costumes in Elizabethan Theatres▪ Did not use painted scenery▪ The stage space did not represent a specific locale▪ Required rapid scene changes▪ Most costumes were simply contemporary clothing,

reflective of the social classes being depicted



English Actors and Acting Companies Number of acting companies restricted by law No female actors. Women’s roles played by boys Doubling of roles was common Style of acting debated, but most likely not “realistic” Rarely perform same play on 2 consecutive days so

used sides – script containing only a single performer’s lines and cues. Elizabethan actors learned their lines from sides.

They had the play’s plot posted backstage to refresh actors memories



Each company had about 25 members and was organized on a sharing plan of 3 categories of personnel:▪ Shareholders: elite members of the company;

received a percentage of the troupe’s profits as payment

▪ Hirelings: actors contracted for a specific period of time and salary

▪ Apprentices: young performers training for the profession; were assigned to shareholders


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POPULAR ARTS IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIMEBearbaiting was a popular entertainment during Shakespeare’s lifetime and plays had to compete with Bearbaiting and Cockfighting. Arenas were constructed for this form of entertainment, in which bears were attacked by trained dogs. Remarkably, bearbaiting continued to attract audiences in the early nineteenth century. Shown here is an illustrating of bearbating in Westminster, London in the 1820s© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Theatre after Elizabeth’s Reign Known as the Jacobean period New forms evolved

▪ English drama▪ Mix of serious and comic elements▪ Many plays had the quality of tragedy but ended happily


Theatre after Elizabeth’s Reign continued

New forms evolved▪ Masques – lavish, spectacular, court entertainment,

primarily during the English Renaissance. ▪ Featured at the court and not found in public or private

theatres▪ Ornate, professionally staged mythological allegories

intended to praise the monarch

▪ Puritans outlawed all theatrical activity in 1642. English Renaissance ended in 1642.


Background: The Spanish Golden Age The period from about 1550 to 1650 Both religious and secular forms of theatre

flourished during the Inquisition


Spanish Drama Adopted the techniques of medieval religious

drama and continued to produce religious dramas throughout their golden age and beyond

Secular drama developed side by side with religious drama and was created by the same artists


Spanish Drama continued

Comedias: full-length secular plays that usually dealt with love and honor Written in there acts and, like English Renaissance

plays, structured in episodic form. Mixed serious with comic and similar to modern

melodrama, like television soap operas. Major playwrights included:

▪ Lope de Vega – said to have written 1500 plays (probably more like 800). 470 of them survive.

▪ Calderón de la Barca40© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Theatre Production in Spain The Corrales –

▪ Where nonreligious plays by writers like Lope de Vega and Calderón were staged

▪ Constructed in existing courtyards of adjoining buildings

▪ Open-air spaces with galleries and boxes protected by a roof


Theatre Production in Spain The Corrales – cont’d

▪ Patio – in the theater of the Spanish Golden Age, the pit area for the audience

▪ Cazuela – Gallery above the tavern in the back wall of the theatres of the Spanish Golden Age; the area where unescorted women sat.


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A SPANISH CORRALThis illustration is based on John J. Allen’s research on the corral del Principe in Madrid. Note the various elements of the corral: the yard (patio), the seating areas (boxe and galleries), and the platform stage with the tiring house behind it. Note also that in front of the yard there were benches or stool and that seats are set up at the side of the stage. In addition, notice how similar the face of the building behind the stage was to the façade of the Elizabethan tiring house© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Theatre Production in Spain continued

Spanish Acting Companies▪ Acting troupes consisted of 16 to 20 performers▪ Included women (although the church did not

support this)▪ Most Spanish acting troupes were compañías de

parte—sharing companies, like those of Elizabethan England


Background: France in the Seventeenth Century Renaissance theatre didn’t peak until the

17th century Partly due to a religious civil war taking place

in France between Catholics and Protestants Flourished under Louis XIV


French Drama: The Neoclassical Era Most important 17th-century French

dramatists were▪ Molière, noted for his comedies

▪ Tartuffe, The Misanthrope and The Miser some of his most famous plays

▪ Influenced by Italian commedia dell’arte▪ Master of slapstick and subtler forms of comedy


French Drama: The Neoclassical Era Most important 17th-century French

dramatists were▪ Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine,

both known for tragedy▪ Corneille – wrote The Cid, which did not follow

neoclassical rules and caused great controversy. Stopped writing for four years then followed rules

▪ Racine – followed neoclassical rules from start. Most famous play, Phaedra


Theatre Production in France French probably the first Europeans after the Romans

to construct permanent theatre buildings▪ Hôtel de Bourgogne, completed in 1548 – built by

Confraternity of the Passion – a religious order that had monopoly on religious drama in Paris

▪ Salle des Machines (Hall of Machines) – largest playhouse in Europe constructed for ballets

▪ Comédie Française (1689) – The French national theatre company housed here for 81 years. Horseshoe seating for improved sight lines

▪ Upperclass often seated onstage near end of 17th century


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GROUND PLAN FOR THE COMEDIE FRANCAISEThe French national theater company performed in this playhouse for 81 years, beginning in 1689. The theater had a proscenium-arch stage with machinery for scene shifts, and a horse-shoe shaped auditorium for improved sight lines. The parterre was where audience members stood. The amphitheater contained bleacherlike seating.© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Theatre Production in France continued

Acting companies were organized under a sharing plan and had women members who could become shareholders

Rehearsals supervised by playwrights or lead actors or both, but had little rehearsal time

Troupe expected to be able to revive a play at a moment’s notice and theaters showed a different play each day


Documents

Ch 12 (8th Ed) Ch 13 (7th Ed) Renaissance Theater