Transcript Elizabethan theatre

English Renaissance Theatre
and William Shakespeare
Find 100 differences :)
«Who wrote Shakespeare?»
Any arguments against
the anti-Stratfordian theories?
- never left England =>
could not write about
other countries
- the real author — an
aristocrat
- no play mentioned in
his will => not the real
author
Elizabethan theatre: production of
plays
Other
contemporarytheatre:
references to
Elizabethan
Shakespeare
production of plays
1. dramatists borrowed heavily
from previously written plays
→ Shakespeare authorship question
Other
contemporarytheatre:
references to
Elizabethan
Shakespeare
production of plays
2. plays written for a particular
cast and theatre
→ Shakespeare authorship question
Other
contemporarytheatre:
references to
Elizabethan
Shakespeare
production of plays
3. collaboration between
dramatists — common work
(the most important thing —
the success of a production,
not of a play as a work
of literature)
Other
contemporarytheatre:
references to
Elizabethan
Shakespeare
production of plays
4. plays considered to be the property
of the theatre, not of the dramatist;
They were not recognised
as works of literature
→ Shakespeare authorship question
.
Other
contemporarytheatre:
references to
Elizabethan
Shakespeare
production of plays
5. the same person
could be a shareholder of the
theatre, a playwright,
an actor and the stage director
* Shakespeare's first biographer, Nicholas Rowe,
referred to a role played by William Shakespeare as
"the Ghost in his own Hamlet" and that he was
"the top of his performance"
Other contemporary references to
Shakespeare
What do we know about
the multiple roles Shakespeare
had to perform (actor,
playwright ,etc.)?
Other contemporary references to
Shakespeare
Elizabethan theatre: the
actors
Other contemporary references to
Elizabethan
theatre: the
Shakespeare
actors
1. both admired and despised
(especially by puritans)
Other contemporary references to
Elizabethan
theatre: the
Shakespeare
actors
2. no women actors;
instead — young boy actors
Other contemporary references to
Elizabethan
theatre: the
Shakespeare
actors
“King Lear” — about the dead Cordelia:
“My poor fool is hanged”
(King Lear 5.3.304)
WHY 'fool'???
Other contemporary references to
Elizabethan
theatre: the
Shakespeare
actors
3. normally, performed more
than one part in one play
→ Theatre metaphors in Shakespeare
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.”
(«As you like it»)
Other contemporary references to
Elizabethan
theatre:
the
Shakespeare
building
Elizabethan theatre: inside
the theatre building
Elizabethan theatre: inside the
theatre building
* the first London theatre (the Theatre) — built
in 1576 by James Burbage.
1. seating capacity: 1500 — 1800 people;
2. standing places — in the yard →
balcony → cheaper boxes → 2
'gentlemen's rooms';
3. no roof over the yard
→ Implications for the dramatist
Elizabethan theatre: inside the
Elizabethan theatre:
inside the theatre building
Elizabethan theatre:
inside the theatre building
Elizabethan theatre: inside the
theatre building
Other contemporary references to
Elizabethan
theatre:
the
Shakespeare
building
Elizabethan theatre:
the stage
Elizabethan theatre: the stage
1. front stage - built out as
a platform into the middle
of the yard;(could not be
shut off by the curtains)
+
rear stage
+
traps (ghosts could appear out of them)
+
'heavens' (gods & spirits lowered from
them)
Elizabethan theatre: the stage
2. absense of pictorial scenery
→ Implications for the dramatist (language)
Elizabethan theatre: the stage
3. use of elaborate costumes and
props; the latter - symbolic, not
pictorial
→ Implications for the audience
Elizabethan theatre: the stage
3. use of elaborate costumes and
props; the latter - symbolic, not
pictoral
→ Implications for the audience
Elizabethan theatre: the stage
... “Or may we cram
Within this wooden O the very casques
That did affright the air at Agincourt?
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Attest in little place a million;
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces work”.
(«Henry V»)
Other contemporary
references
to
Elizabethan theatre: the
Shakespeare
audience
Elizabethan theatre: the
audience
Elizabethan theatre: the audience
1. pleased with familiar plots
but demanding constant variety
=> most plays had short runs
=> more attention to quantity rather
than quality on the part of dramatists
Elizabethan theatre: the audience
2. all social classes, bound together
by a common enthusiasm for England's
past an present;
3. theatrical performances co-existed with
such base forms of entertainment as
bear-baiting (greatly enjoyed by the
audience)
→ Implications for a dramatist
Find 100 differences :)
«Who wrote Shakespeare?»
Any arguments against
anti-Stratfordians?
«Who wrote Shakespeare?»
Any arguments against
the anti-Stratfordian theories?
- never left England =>
could not write about
other countries?
- the real author — an
aristocrat?
- no play mentioned in
his will => not the real
author?
I can no other answer
make but thanks,
And thanks, and ever
thanks.
END OF PRESENTATION
Thanks for your attention!