Transcript Italian Renaissance Theatre

Bellwork #11
Describe what you believe the theatre
during the Middle Ages (Dark Ages or
Medieval Times) was like.
(Your response should be ½ page)
Exploring Theatre History:
Middle Ages to 1800’s
The Middle Ages
Historical Facts
•Began in 476 AD
•Lasted 400 years
•Little or no cultural activity
•Church was the strongest power
•Church destroyed Theatre
•Feudalism
-political system of the time
•Remaining Theatre
-wanderers & folk festivals
The Middle Ages
Reemerging Theatre
•9th century Churches began to
use drama to their advantage
•The Trope: began in France but
soon spread to the rest of the world
•Tableaus- Pantomime- Dialogue
-performed by priests & choir boys
•Mansions (Stations)
-raised platforms in cathedrals
-crowds rotate to each one to hear
entire story
The Middle Ages
Types of Theatre
•Mystery plays:
-Bible stories reenacted
•Miracle Plays:
- Reenacting the lives of
saints
•Morality Plays:
- stories teaching right from
wrong in which characters
personified abstract qualities
(Ex. Good Deeds, Greed, etc.)
The Middle Ages
Characteristics of Theatre
•Everyman, Morality Play
•Religious comedy written by
Hrosvitha (nun) in 10th Century
•Mansions/ Stations moved outside
the church in 13th & 14th century
-Moved to the marketplace
-very much like our parades
today
•Comedic characters from Bible
stories
-Noah’s wife kicking &
screaming
- Devils prodding evil doers
The Middle Ages
Staging of Medieval
Theatre
•Spectacle still popular
-Hell’s mouth (smoke, flames,
racks w/ tortured souls)
•Guilds & Sponsorships
-Ship Guild: Noah’s Ark
-Baker Guild: Last Supper
•Very detailed productions
•Double Decker Wagon stages
-upper: stage
-lower: changing area
The Middle Ages
Feast Plays
•Secret societies that produced
feasts
- Vulgarity: (Feast of the
Donkey)
-Nonsense: (Feast of Fools)
-Satirized Mass
-Occurred all throughout
Europe
-Very popular in France
-Outlawed in 1435
The Middle Ages
The Passion Play
•Popular during the late Middle Ages
•Based on scenes from Christ’s life
(Ex. His last days & resurrection)
•Oberammergau, Germany
-Black Plague Vow
-Started in 1633
-performed every 10 yrs
-1940 show cancelled (WWII)
•Art of acting became as important as
dialogue
•Mixture of comic & serious
-Italian Improv & Elizabethans
The Middle Ages
The Passion Play
•Popular during the late Middle Ages
•Based on scenes from Christ’s life
(Ex. His last days & resurrection)
•Oberammergau, Germany
-Black Plague Vow
-Started in 1633
-performed every 10 yrs
-1940 show cancelled (WWII)
•Art of acting became as important as
dialogue
•Mixture of comic & serious
-Italian Improv & Elizabethans
Bellwork #13
What are the differences between the two
pictures above. Which of the two do you like
the best? Why?
Renaissance Theatre
The General Facts
•The Word Renaissance= “Rebirth”
•15th & 16th centuries
•Ancient classic playwrights &
writers rediscovered & copied
•A boom of learning in art and
science throughout Europe
•Geniuses arose:
•Da Vinci (inventor/painter)
•Petrarch
•Michelangelo (Sistine Chapel)
Renaissance Theatre
Italian Renaissance Theatre
•Commedia Dell’ Arte
•comedy staged by professional
actors
•Arte= Guild
•Stock Characters
Harlequin- clever, witty
servant
Pierrot- love lorn &
moody
Columbine- flirtatious &
pretty
Pantalone- gullible father
Renaissance Theatre
Italian Renaissance Theatre
•Commedia Dell’ Arte
•Wore half masks
•Usually 7 men & 3 women
•Improv routines:
Lazzi- a collection of
scenarios, gags, rhymes, etc.
they relied on to improv
•Actors had to be inventive,
clever, & witty at a moments
notice
Renaissance Theatre
Spanish Renaissance
Theatre
•1550-1680 Highpoint of theatre
popularity
•Miguel de Cervantes- Don Quixote &
wrote more than 30 plays
•Ignored classic unities of time &
place
•Writers focused on dialogue & plots
full of adventure, romance, & chivalry
Renaissance Theatre
French Renaissance
Theatre
•Renaissance had a late arrival here
•17th century
•Focused on the classic unities of
time & place
•Only wrote in verse
•Written & performed for royalty
•Luxurious playhouses
Renaissance Theatre
Moliére
•Represents the highpoint of French
Renaissance Drama
•Wrote witty satires
•Commedia dell’ arte actor for 12 years
before became a playwright
•Performances were performed for the
public & royalty
Tartuffe- attacked hypocrisy
The Imaginary Invalid- attacks
hypochondria
•Died onstage from tuberculosis