English Renaissance theatre

English Renaissance theatre is English drama written between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. It may also be called early modern English theatre. It includes the drama of William Shakespeare along with many other famous dramatists.

Terminology

English Renaissance theatre is often called Elizabethan theatre. However, in a strictly accurate sense, the term 'Elizabethan theatre' covers only the plays written and performed publicly in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (that is, 1558 - 1603). As such 'Elizabethan theatre' is distinguished from Jacobean theatre (associated with the reign of King James I, 1603-1625), and Caroline theatre (associated with King Charles I, 1625 until the closure of the theatres in 1642).

In practice 'Elizabethan theatre' is often used as a more general term for all English drama from the Reformation to the closure of the theatre in 1642, thus including both Jacobean and Caroline drama. As such it is synonymous with 'English Renaissance drama' or 'early modern English drama'.

History

English Renaissance theatre derived from several sources. A crucial source was the mystery plays that were a part of religious festivals in England and other parts of Europe during the Middle Ages. The mystery plays were complex retellings of legends based on biblical themes, originally performed in churches but later becoming more linked to the secular celebrations that grew up around religious festivals. Other sources include the morality plays that evolved out of the mysteries, the "University drama" that attempted to recreate Greek tragedy. Later, in the 17th century, the Commedia dell'arte and the elaborate masques frequently presented at court came to play roles in the shaping of public theater.

Temporary companies of players attached to households of leading noblemen and performing seasonally in various locations existed before the reign of Elizabeth I. These became the foundation for the professional players that performed on the Elizabethan stage. The tours of these players gradually replaced the performances of the mystery and morality plays by local players, and a 1572 law eliminated the remaining companies lacking formal patronage by labelling them as 'vagabonds'. At court as well, the performance of masques by courtiers and other amateurs, apparently common in the early years of Elizabeth, was replaced by the professional companies with noble patrons, who grew in number and quality during her reign.

The London authorities (known as the Corporation of London) were generally hostile to public performances, but its hostility was overmatched by the Queen's taste for plays and the Privy Council's support. Theatres sprang up in suburbs, especially in Southwark, accessible across the Thames to city dwellers, but not controlled by the London corporation. The companies maintained the pretence that their public performances were mere rehearsals for the frequent performances before the Queen, but while the latter did grant prestige, the former were the real source of the income professional players required.

Performances

The stage on which English Renaissance plays were performed was essentially a platform surrounded on three sides by the audience, only the rear being open for entrances, exits, and seating for musicians to accompany the frequent songs. The first purpose-built theatre for plays in England since Roman times was The Theatre, built in Shoreditch by James Burbage in 1576, and was rapidly followed by the nearby Curtain Theatre. By 1600, there were several theatres, each with an upper level which could be used as a balcony, as in Romeo and Juliet, or as a position for an actor to harangue a crowd as in Julius Caesar.

One distinctive feature of the companies was that they included only males. Until the reign of Charles II, female parts were played by adolescent boys in women's costume.

Writers

The growing population of London, the growing wealth of its people, and their fondness for spectacle produced a dramatic literature of remarkable variety, quality, and extent. Although most of the plays written for the Elizabethan stage have been lost, over 600 remain extant.

The men (no woman, so far as is known, wrote for the stage in this era) who wrote these plays were primarily self-made men from modest backgrounds. Some of them were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, but many were not. Although William Shakespeare was an actor, the majority do not seem to have been performers, and no major author who came on to the scene after 1600 is known to have supplemented his income by acting.

Not all of the playwrights fit modern images of poets or intellectuals. Christopher Marlowe was killed in an apparent tavern brawl, while Ben Jonson killed an actor in a duel. Several probably were soldiers.

Playwriting was a lucrative occupation for a writer who would produce around 2 plays per year. Most professional playwrights earned an average of 25 pounds a year, an impressive amount at the time. They would normally be paid in increments during the writing process, and if their play was accepted, they would also receive the proceeds from one day's performance. However, they had no ownership of the plays they wrote. Once a play was sold to a company, the company owned it, and the playwright had no control over casting, performance, revision or publication.

Finale

The rising Puritan movement was hostile to the theatres, which the Puritans considered to be sinful for several reasons. The most commonly cited reason was that young men dressed up in female costume to play female roles. Theatres were located in the same parts of the city in which brothels and other forms of vice proliferated. When the Puritan faction of Parliament gained control over the city of London at the beginning of the English Civil War, it ordered the closing of all theatres in 1642 — though this was largely because the stage was being used to promote opposing political views. After the monarchy was restored the theatres re-opened. The English King and many writers had spent years in France and were influenced by the flourishing French theatre of Louis XIV, especially in tragedy. However, Restoration audiences had no enthusiasm for structurally simple, well-shaped comedies such as those of Molière, but demanded bustling, crowded multi-plot action and fast comedic pace, and the Elizabethan features of multitude of scenes, multitude of characters, and melange of genres lived on in Restoration comedy. The Renaissance classics were the mainstay of the Restoration repertory, although many of the tragedies were adapted to conform to the new taste.

Genres

Genres of the period included the history play, which depicted English or European history. Shakespeare’s plays about the lives of kings, such as Richard III and Henry V belong to this category, as does Christopher Marlowe's Edward II.

Tragedy was a popular genre. Marlowe's tragedies were exceptionally popular, such as Dr Faustus and The Jew of Malta. The audiences particularly liked revenge dramas, such as Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy. John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi offers a parade of bloody cruelties.

Comedies were common, too. A subgenre developed in this period was the city comedy, which deal satirically with life in the city after the fashion of Roman New Comedy. Examples are Thomas Dekker's The Shoemaker's Holiday and Thomas Middleton's A Chaste Maid in Cheapside.

List of playwrights

List of players

Other significant people

George Buc, Master of the Revels 1609 - 1622
Cuthbert Burbage, entrepreneur
James Burbage, entrepreneur
Philip Henslowe, entrepreneur
Francis Langley, entrepreneur
Edmund Tilney, Master of the Revels 1579 - 1609

List of playhouses

List of playing companies

Summary

Elizabethan Terms • Monologue – a long passage of text spoken by a single character. This is most likely not the characters most inner thoughts.

• Exterior monologue – when the actor speaks to another person who is not in the performance space (on the stage) or to the audience.

• Interior monologue – when the actor speaks to himself or herself.

• Soliloquy – a solo speech by a single character while others are on the stage. It is often the sharing of the character’s innermost thoughts.

o Eg. “To be or not to be” – Hamlet.

• Iambic Pentameter – a line consisting of five rhythmic beats.

o Eg. daDUM // daDUM // daDUM,/// daDUM // daDUM.

o “To be // or not // to be, /// that is // the ques-tion.

William Shakespeare

• April 23, 1564 – April 23, 1616.

• Lived in Stratford-upon-Avon.

• Married to Anne Hathoway.

• Wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets and many other poems.

• Produced most of his work between 1586 and 1616.

• First play: ; Last play: The Tempest, 1613.

• Wrote tragedies, histories, comedies and romances.

o Histories: Henry IV, V, VI, VIII, Richard II, III.

o Tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, Orthello, Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth.

o Commedies: Comedy of Errors, Twelthf Night, As you Like It, Much Adu About Nothing.

Theatres and The Globe Theatre

• The Globe, 1599; The Fortune, 1600; The Swan.

• Public – Outdoor; Private – Indoor

Features of a public playhouse

• Had a ‘pit’ or ‘yard’ where the ‘groundlings’ stood to view performances (general admission)

• There was an unroofed space that surrounded the stage on three sides.

• There were three levels of seating called ‘galleries’ which were roofed areas which were pricier for more distinguished guests.

• There were probably also some private galleries.

• The ‘tiring house’ was at the rear of the raised platform.

• This is where the actors would wait for cues and change costumes.

• The roof over the stage was called the ‘heavens’.

• It was supported with columns and was often painted with stars or clouds.

The Globe Theatre

• In Southwark, London, on the south bank of the river Thames.

• It was built in 1599.

• Burned to the ground in 1613 and was immediately rebuilt.

• Destroyed in 1644 to make room for residency.

• Was replicated in 1997 only a couple of hundred yards from its original position.

• Circle or octagonal in shape.

• The upper gallery was called the Penny Gallery.

• The two lower galleries were called the Twopenny Rooms.

• On the stage there were two trap doors which actors emerged from throughout performances.

• The area beneath the stage was called ‘hell’ as many of Shakespeare’s villainous characters would enter and exit beneath. (eg. The ghost in Hamlet.)

• There was a balcony on the stage for scenes requiring two levels of stage (eg. Romeo and Juliet – Balcony Scene)

• The balcony often also housed musicians and sometimes even Royalty chose and paid to be seated there.

External links

Shakespeare and the Globe from Encyclopaedia Britannica; a more comprehensive resource on the theatre of this period than its name suggests.

English drama | History of theater | History of United Kingdom literatures | Theatre in England | William Shakespeare

Elisabethanisches Theater | Théâtre élisabéthain | Teatro elisabettiano | Teatr elżbietański

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