Transcript An Introduction to Elizabethan Theatre

ElizabethanTheatre
…Starring William Shakespeare
Introduction
 Throughout the middle ages plays
were performed by workers in towns
and were religious based, often
retelling stories from the Bible.
 However, this ended after Henry
VIII’s break from Rome and
formation of the Church of England
in 1533.
 At the beginning of Elizabethan
times, there were
 strollers,
 minstrels,
 jugglers
 musicians.
 Queen Elizabeth I, ruler of England
(1533-1603) encouraged the formation
of the theatre and acting companies.
The Evolution of the Elizabethan Theatre
INN YARDS…
 “Strolling players” – performed in different places,
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earning money
Inn-holders offered shelter to the Strolling Players
Temporary stages were erected by the actors here
The capacity of inn-yards was 500 people
First form of commercial Elizabethan theatre
1576 – 1594 – peak of Elizabethan inn-yard theatres
Interior of an Elizabethan Inn-Yard
Amphitheatres
 James Burbage built the
first Elizabethan theatre;
“The Globe”. Construction
was similar to the Roman
amphitheatres
 Social status and wealth
determined the seating in
Elizabethan theatre
 Like the inn-yard, the rich
would watch from the
windows & galleries,
ordinary people from the
inn-yard.
Elizabethan Playhouses
 Provided indoor venues for the production of
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Elizabethan plays
The Playhouses were more comfortable and luxurious
than other theatres
Public performances would cost between 1 to 3 pennies,
while private theatre cost was 2 to 26 pennies
Suitable for winter and evening performances because
they were roofed
Food and drink was served
The Elizabethan Playhouse
Actors and Acting Companies
 Traveling companies performed wherever they could find audience
 Notorious reputation of vagabonds and thefts
 Two kinds of acting companies – adult companies and boy’s choirs
 No women were allowed onstage
 Four major acting companies: Lord Strange’s Men; Chamberlain’s
Men; Admiral’s Men; King’s Men
Actor-Audience Relationship
 The ‘thrust stage’ of Elizabethan
theatre, meant that the audience was
right up in the action of the play.
This made for a much more
intimate experience of the delivery.
 Audience were involved in the play –
shouting suggestions,
encouragements or curses to the
actors
 Dialogue revealed to the audience the
time and place of the action, the
characters’ identities and even their
physical appearances
Stage Design and Sets
 In Elizabethan times there was
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one permanent set.
The back wall could serve as a
castle, house, palace, town, etc.
An inner stage was located at the
back of the stage which could be
closed from view with a curtain or
used to represent inner rooms,
caves and hiding places.
Above this inner stage was a
balcony or upper-stage.
There was a muscians’ gallery
and high above the stage was a
turret from which a trumpeter
announced the start of the play.
Costume
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Were very important to actors
and crucial to a performance
because there was little scenery.
 More well-established actors
owned their own costumes/acting
groups owned costumes that were
appropriate for many roles
 Decorated with braid, embroidery,
pearls, jewels, lace, and artificial
flowers.
 Audience could distinguish the
more significant roles by what
the actors wore.
Costume and Make-up
 Strict laws about dressing
during the Elizabethan Age –
Sumptuary Law
 Make-up used by boy actors
was lead-based and highly
poisonous
 They used wigs, masks, and
different colored suits/spent a
lot of money on clothing.
Lighting and Properties
• Plays were always acted in
daylight; at this time there was
no artificial lighting.
• Props were simple.
• Chairs would be used to indicate
the scene as being indoors, if a
lantern was carried, it was night
or a character wore riding boots,
they’d been traveling. Common
props were swords and banners.
The Playwrites
 Playwrights took inspiration from the Roman
theatre and writers like Seneca, who wrote
about crime, revenge, witches and ghosts.
 Elizabethan writers introduced theatre
audiences to horror, the supernatural and
GORE…
 Famous playwrites included Christopher
Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Lyly and Thomas
Kyd.
 The most well known playwright of
Elizabethan times is William Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare ( 1563-1616)
 Born Stratford-upon-Avon in
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1564
Well to do parents; father was
a glover
Married Anne Hathaway in
1582
Wrote 37 plays &
about 154 sonnets
Started out as an actor for
Lord Chamberlain’s Men
(London theater co.)
 Became Principal playwrite.
 In 1599 Lord Ch. Co. built
Globe Theater where most of
Shakespeare’s Play’s were
performed
Comedies, Tragedies and Histories
Tragedies
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Titus Andronicus
Romeo and Juliet
Julius Caesar
Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
Antony and Cleopatra
Histories
 Henry VI, Henry Iv & Henry VIII
 Richard III and Richard II
Comedies
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Taming of the Shrew
Midsummer Night’s Dream
Merchant of Venice
Much Ado About Nothing
As You Like It
Twelfth Night
Measure for Measure
All’s Well that Ends Well
The Tempest
Ingredients of Shakespearean Plays
 In Medias Res – always began
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plays in the middle of things.
Heightened Language - Blank
Verse and Poetry
Puns
References to Blood
Foreshadowing
Soliloquy – allowed audiences
to know what a character was
thinking like a voice over of a
soap opera
Monologues – long addresses by
one character
 References to GHOSTS and
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the supernatural
Imagery – references to
night/light (to do with
lighting in the theatre)
Asides
The last person to speak is
always the person of highest
birth.
Comic Relief
Shakespeare Today
 Elizabethan theatre is still plays a part in our day to
day lives, mostly through the influence of Shakespeare.
 References to his work are in films, novels, plays,
musicals, songs, poetry, artwork, satire…Even today
his characters and storylines continue to inspire…
F.Y.I.
Shakespeare coined over 1600 words still used
today including countless, critical, excellent,
lonely, majestic, obscene and its.
Said to have had a vocabulary of some 29,066
words. An average person’s today might use
just 2000 words used in everyday
conversation. With a vocabulary like that, who
needs a dictionary?
Names coined by Shakespeare:
Imogen (Cymbaline)
Jessica (The Merchant of Venice)
Miranda (The Tempest)
Olivia (Twelfth Night)
Cordelia (King Lear)