Elizabethan and French Neoclassic Theatre

The Renaissance Took place in England and France Created an “explosion”

Brought expanded knowledge of Greek & Roman classics Brought optimism

Encouraged scientific and geographical exploration of the world The practicable movable type (aka printing press)

Invented by German Johannes Gutenberg in middle of 15th century Made knowledge available to all, caused reading to be widespread Along with the skill of reading came an interest in history and national culture

By Elizabeth’s I reign in 1558, theatre had been flourishing through liturgical secular plays These plays were performed in schools, private banquet halls, and courtyards

Public Theatres Catered to all types of people Acting companies and playwrights were in it for money Companies worked hard to give into the wants of the audience When interests changed, the plays produced changed

Elizabethan Playhouses These buildings were lively and active The shape and construction were influenced by the plays being produced The First Theatres

The first was called The Theatre (original, I know) After The Theatre burned, in came The Globe and The Swan

The Globe was home to The Lord Chamberlain’s Men The Lord Chamberlain’s Men - an acting company whose playwright was the

world-famous William Shakespeare Original Theatre Structures

Other than drawings, many thought that we had lost all traces of the original structure of the original theatres during this era

Recent excavations in the old Bankside area of London find the foundations of two theaters, including The Globe The Globe had 24 sides/at least 20 gallery bays

Yard (later known as the pit) – the open area for people who could only afford a penny People who stood here were called groundlings or penny stinkers (because of their

behavior) The Globe’s stage was 40 ft wide, extending 27 ft into the pit

Helped the groundlings see better Allowed the use of a trapdoor

Hell - the space under the stage, possible used as an early kind of echo chamber for off-stage voices for invisible ghosts

Heavens – the stage roof trap door in ceiling allowed actors to be lowered to the stage from above

Inner stage - space between the two entrance doors at the rear of the stage, could be closed off with a curtain, used for small scenes A similar area was located above, setting the scene for a window or balcony

or battlement scene Hut – small thatch-roofed structure, where the hoists (for raising and lowering

actors), sound effects, and musicians Performances

Open stage Encouraged a declamatory, less realistic style of acting

Lighting by sunlight Elizabethan playwrights were free to move the action of the scenes as much as they

wanted Words from characters from the beginning of the scene was how the setting was

established Took the place of stage lighting, showing the time of the day, the season, and the

weather Historical accuracy in costuming didn’t matter; actors wore whatever they saw their

character in No actresses

Young men dressed as females Probably part of the reason for the shortage of female roles and intimate scenes

between male and female characters Playwrights and Plays

John Lily (1554? – 1606) Endymion, the Main in the Moon

Thomas Kyd (1558 – 1594) The Spanish Tragedy, a play of revenge

Christopher Marlowe (1564 – 1593) Established blank verse

Blank verse – name given to poetry made up of non-rhyming lines containing five iambic feet Iambic pentameter is a very natural rhythm in English

Tamburlaine the Great, Doctor Faustus Ben Jonson (1573? – 1637)

His plays followed the forms of the ancient Greek and Roman plays Every Man in His Humour, The Alchemist, Volpone

William Shakespeare April 24, 1564 at Stratford-upon-Avon Attended grammar school in Stratford, became apprenticed as a glover At 18, he married 26 year old Anne Hathaway; then left her and their children a few years

later to go to London Became a part of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men By 28, he was recognized as an actor and playwright During the plague, he wrote his first sonnets and two long narrative poems After Queen Elizabeth I died, James I took over Shakespeare’s acting company, which

became known as The King’s Company

They received the Blackfriars Theatre (a smaller, private theatre), and performed plays both there and the Globe Theatre

Retired in 1610, a wealthy man with good opinion from the king (legally a Gentleman); returned home to Stratford

Died on April 23, 1616 at 52 Body buried in the chancel of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford

Shakespeare’s Plays Generally divided into 3 categories

Histories Wrote several plays about English kings Some subjects were so interesting, they had more than one play

Comedies Wrote 16 comedies, then two dark/bitter comedies Cover a range of styles from farce to fantasy, from coarse, bawdy humor to clever

wit and word-play Tragedies

Differ from Greek tragedies; allows his stories to roam freely, covering spans of time with subplots

Tragic flaws are harder to see Theatre of the French Renaissance

French theatre lacked the popular appeal compared to Elizabethan Theatre Best actors and playwrights worked in small, indoor theatres, given to private, paying

audiences Neoclassicism – imitation of the newly rediscovered works of the Greeks and Romans

Neoclassicist Playwrights Pierre Corneille (1606 – 1684)

Melité, Medea, Horace, The Death of Pompey, Le Cid Showed men as they ought to be

Jean Racine (1639 – 1699) Brittanicus, Iphigenia in Aulis, Phedre Humanized French tragedy in much the same way that Sophocles and Euripedes

did Showed men as they are

Molière (aka Jean Baptiste Poquelin) [1622 – 1673] Author of many comedies Satires of current figures and popular culter were criticized and sometimes banned

from stage Master of showmanship The School of Wives, Tartuffe, Don Juan The Miser, The Doctor in Spite of

Himself, The Imaginary Invalid