Theatre's Transition in Europe The theatre’s transition from the medieval to the Renaissance was more readily apparent in England than in Italy or France ... in those countries, the shift from medievalism to Neoclassicism / Renaissance seemed much more abrupt . We can see much more apparent gradual changes – with the English theatre showing characteristics of medievalism and the Renaissance simultaneously, and occurring over a couple centuries.
The Renaissance did not seem to have much of an influence till the late 15th century (1400’s) because of wars and internal strife.
Influences on Elizabethan Drama: The Renaissance / Neoclassical was less binding than in the rest of Europe.
The classics gradually went to England, and some of the early English Renaissance plays reflect that influence.
Ralph Roister Doister – by Nicholas Udall, a headmaster at Eton Academy (1505-1556).
Plot – about a boastful coward -- Indebted to Plautus’s The Braggart Warrior – foolishness of boastful coward and his courtship of a widow Advanced dramatic construction
Gammer Gurton’s Needle – written at Cambridge University, by Mr. "S." (some believe Thomas Sackville) between 1552 and 1563.
Plot – two households disagree /misunderstand about the loss of a needle. Fuses subject matter and characters similar to medieval farce with the techniques of Roman comedy.
Inns of Court – residences and training for lawyers produced plays for self and important guests, like schools.
Gorbuduc – Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton – 1561 – the "first English Tragedy" – with a "political" statement to make (about leaving the order of succession of the throne unknown – support for Elizabeth’s reign) -- Queen Elizabeth attended.
Forces Shaping English Drama from Medievalism to Elizabethan: - Religious and political controversies.
Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scots, Puritans,
Elizabeth became queen in 1558, died 1603. She outlawed religious drama (her father was Henry VIII, who in 1534 separated from the Catholic Church to form the Anglican Church, or Church of England, with the English monarch as the head of the church – Catholic / Protestant disputes followed and were rampant, and Elizabeth the Queen wanted no religious dissension) – therefore, there was a rapid development of secular drama as a result.
In 1588, the Spanish Armada was defeated (ironically partly because of the weather); and thus there was a time of peace, domestic calm (?) and the gradual supremacy of English, rather than Spanish, influence as a major world power.
- Medieval Influences: dramas and interludes
Before, during, and after Elizabethan theatre – a sometimes bizarre mixture of classics and native drama (of "sophisticated" and "simple" theatre).
- Acting became a legal profession in the 1570’s.
The English theatre was directly under the control of the government. Acting companies had to have a license, requiring the patronage of a noble. Provincial troupes were deprived of legal status, so theatre was concentrated around London.
The merchant class disliked theatre (most were part of growing Puritan population), while the aristocracy liked it.
Till 1608, theatre buildings were illegal in the city limits of London, the center of theatre, so theatres were built outside of the city limits.
The first – by James Burbage, head of the first important troupe, the Earl of Leicester’s Men, licensed in 1574 – called "The Theatre."
Despite opposition, by 1580, two companies or more were playing around London.
Acting companies needed new plays. Some of these new plays came from The University Wits – an informal group of scholars applying classical standards to the needs of a vigorous contemporary stage.
Robert Green (1558-1592)
Thomas Kyd (1558-1594)– The Spanish Tragedy – c. 1587.Most popular play of the 1500’s.
John Lyly (c. 1554-1606) – prose comedies
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) – Dr. Faustus, Edward II
The University Wits all helped develop:
elegant prose
romantic comedies
complex protagonists
humanism and neoclassicism combined
blank verse – iambic pentameter, not rhymed (called a "couplet" if rhymed)
Marlowe – the most critically acclaimed of the four – Cambridge educated.
- focus is on the protagonist; episodic story illuminating his complex motivations
- development of the "chronicle" play – History Play – (i.e.: Edward II) – rearranging, telescoping, and altering events to create a causal sense...
- helped perfect blank verse
Iambic pentameter, no rhyme. "Couplets" were rhymed.
Tamburlaine parts I&II, 1587 & 1588
Dr. Faustus c. 1588
Edward II c. 1592
Marlowe died in a fight at 29.
Other "University Wits":
John Lyly (c. 1554-1606) and Robert Greene (1558-1592).
The Theatre buildings / structures:
Public theatre emerged with lack of religious and political subjects.
A need for more plays.
By 1604, with James I and the beginning of the Stuart reign, all troupes were licensed to members of royal families. Before that, when Elizabeth came to power in 1558, gentlemen could maintain a group of actors – otherwise, they were considered to be vagabonds.
A license was required to perform plays. But local authorities (many of the Puritans) found ways to keep troupes from performing.
By 1597, the Crown agreed to limit the number of troupes, but took a firmer support of those it sanctioned.
Pre-Shakespearean Acting Troupes: Many before 1570’s, but little known about them. Noblemen probably paid a fixed yearly sum, and they probably did additional public performances for extra money.
By 1570, government decrees mad acting more secure, daily performances stimulated building permanent theatres and assembling larger companies.
First important troupe: Earl of Leicester’s Men, licensed in 1574, headed by James Burbage – builder of the first theatre in London.
Lord Chamberlain’s Men – with the Burbage family, Shakespeare’s troupe.
A plague of 1592-3 forced many troupes to dissolve or combine.
In 1603, Lord Chamberlain’s Men became the King’s Men, until 1642.
Actors were paid by the court, yearly fee plus other expenses.
Most troupes worked on a sharing plan – risk and profits shared. Democratic, self-governing,
Some troupes or members of troupes owned theatre buildings—they were know as "householders."
Stagehands hired "hirelings" for a salary.
Troupes were all male, men or young boys playing women’s roles, some specialized in particular types of roles.
Large repertories: a different bill each day.
The actual style is not known.
Some scholars argue that acting was formal:
- Males doing female roles
- Non-realistic scripts
- Conventionalized stage sets
- Large repertory
Some scholars argue that acting was more realistic:
- Shakespeare’s "advice to the players" in Hamlet
- Contemporaneous references to convincing characterizations
- Emphasis on contemporary life and manners in many comedies
- Truthfulness of human psychology displayed
- Closeness of audience to performers
In either case, vocal quality and flexibility were necessary.
The Elizabethan Theatre
Two kinds:
- Outdoor or "public"
- Indoor or "private"
Both were open to anyone who could pay, but the private theatres cost more, were smaller, and had a more select audience.
Nine Public playhouses were built between 1576 and 1642.The three most important – were all outside the city limits of London:
The Globe (1599)
The Fortune (1600)
The Swan
General features of public playhouses: - Varied in size – largest seated 2-3,000.
- Varying shapes: round, rectagonal, octagonal
- Had a "pit" or "yard" – where the "groundlings" were – un-roofed space, surrounding the stage on three sides, enclosed by three tiers of roofed galleries. The yard cost less (general admission), the Gallery cost more. There were probably some private galleries.
- The stage was raised, 4-6 feet, extending to the center of the yard.
- A "Tiring house" at the rear of the raised platform – where the actors would wait and change.
- The stage was roofed – called "the heavens"—supported by columns. Flying was common, with cranes and ropes.
- Traps in the floor, for fire, smoke, other effects.
- Two doors in the tiring house—represented widely different locations (France or England, for instance).
- A hut above the Tiring House, for equipment and machinery.
- Flag on top of hut – to signal performance day.
- Musicians’ gallery, below hut, third level.
- Perhaps: Two playing levels, upper and lower; maybe a third. Audience may have sat on 2nd level..
- Perhaps: a discovery space (probably between the two doors, portable or permanent, 1 or 3 curtains thrusting out.
Indoor / Private Theatres Less is known about the Elizabethan indoor theatres.
- Smaller, roofed.
- Troupes did shows in winter when it was too cold to be outside – suggesting that the staging was probably similar.
- 1576 – Blackfriar’s – a former monastery – was the first one – closed by 1584.
- The New Blackfriar’s opened in 1596 by James Burbage. Their company, the King’s Men, used it after 1610 as their winter performance area.
- Children’s troupes had been popular for a while until 1610.
- By the time of Shakespeare (1595?), actors had achieved a satisfactory level of financial and social stability.
- By 1642, there were six private theatres in London.
- Private theatre rose in popularity from 1610 to 1642. Public theatres were used only during the five warm months.
- Size: about ¼ - ½ of the seating capacity of the public theatres.
- Spectators sat in the pit or in galleries or private boxes. The stages were probably similar.
Acting Troupes: (review from earlier) Most troupes worked on a sharing plan – risk and profits shared. Democratic, self-governing,
Some troupes or members of troupes owned theatre buildings—they were know as "householders."
Stagehands hired "hirelings" for a salary.
Troupes were all male, men or young boys playing women’s roles, some specialized in particular types of roles.
Richard Tarleton, William Kemp, and Robert Armin – clowns
Richard Burbage, Edward Alleyn – tragedians.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Between 1590 and 1613, he wrote 38 plays (although, for some, the authorship is still in doubt), some written with others (John Fletcher, for instance).
Histories: (English history, like Marlowe’s Chronicle plays) such as Henry IV, V, VI, VIII, Richard II, Richard III
Tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth – generally considered to be his greatest works
Comedies: Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Comedy of Errors
Little known about his life:
- Actor and shareholder in Lord Chamberlain’s Company (Later the King’s Men) by 1595.
- After 1599, a shareholder at the Globe Theatre.
- Actor, playwright, and sometimes director.
Shakespeare and his contemporaries:
General characteristics of the plays:
- Early point of attack
- Several lines of action (subplots), independent at first, then somehow merge together – unity in apparent diversity (King Lear is a perfect example).
- Large number and variety of incidents; mixing of tears and laughter; gentle and violent passions
- Time and space used freely – a sense of ongoing life behind the scenes
- Large range and number of characters; 30 is common; rich and poor, all individuals.
- Varied language: elegant, ribald, witty, prosaic; all to enhance character and action
- Subjects from many sources (mythology, history, legend, fiction, plays) but reworked to become his own.
A fluid and flexible production style is needed:
Small props, small set pieces maybe
Costumes important – they were usually contemporary, except for supernatural characters and conventional costumes (for Turks, Spaniards, animals), and with the addition of drapery to suggest periods (Romans wearing toga-like sash).
Shakespeare’s plays seem to be accepted as the most dramatically effective – he attempted all popular forms and subjects.
But his reputation during his lifetime was lower than Jonson or Fletcher of Beaumont. His fame grew in the late 17th century and reached its peak in the 19th. Has leveled now.
Survival of his plays depended on fellow actors (i.e.: Henry Condell and John Heminges) – Original edition of his plays was in 1623, called the First Folio.
His four greatest tragedies: Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Othello
Shakespeare’s Contemporaries: Ben Jonson (1572-1637): Considered the best after Shakespeare, but thought he was better.
Perhaps the most influential of his time.
An actor turned playwright.
Followed "the rules" more, but altered them.
Wrote many "masques"—more than anyone else.
In 1616 was made England’s "poet laureate."
In 1616, his plays were published – something usually reserved for poets.
His plays were limited in scope: purpose to reform human behavior, concentrated on foibles of contemporary types.
More harshly moralistic that Shakespeare.
Called "comedy of humors"—
The four bodily "humors" – since classical times, the four humors – blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile – health was thought to depend on them—extended in Elizabethan times to human psychology – the eccentricities of human behavior attributed to them.
Johnson wrote mostly comedies such as Every Man in his Humor (1598.)
His two tragedies Valpone (1606) and The Alchemist (1610), were respected, but popular failures.
Less celebrated contemporaries:
George Chapman, John Marston, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Heywood, Thomas Middleton
Characteristics of their plays:
- early point of attack
- chronological organization
- basic unit is short scene,
- non-illusionistic, developing action
- serious and comic tones
- moral order emphasized (man can make choices but is ultimately responsible to forcer greater than himself)
- struggle between good and evil (but less obviously than medieval).
Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists: "Jacobean" comes from James I, King after Elizabeth’s death, reigned from 1603-1625.
"Caroline" refers to Charles I, reigned 1625-1642.
After 1610, a significant change in English drama, which set the standard for tragedies between 1610 and 1642:
More technical proficiency than Shakespeare, but subjects shocking rather than profound.
Subject matter – went from penetrating questions to thrill of exciting stories.
Tragicomedy increases in popularity.
Technical skill increases: exposition more adroit, fewer episodes, built complications into startling climaxes, alternated quiet and tumultuous scenes.
John Fletcher (1579-1625) (273):
One of his plays has a brother and sister incest – but the moral problem is resolved when it turns out they’re not really related.
John Webster (c. 1580-1630) (273):
The White Devil (1609-1612)
The Duchess of Malfi (1613-14) – insane Prince Ferdinand.
Modern scholars say he is closest to Shakespeare, but flawed by obscure action, always secondary to characterization. Characters surrounded by corruption and receive no new insight – lack Shakespeare’s sense of affirmation.
John Ford (1586-c. 1639):
Exemplifies the decadence of Jacobean / Caroline drama .
‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (1629-1633)
Sympathetic treatment of brother / sister lovers.
Essentially good characters caught up in abnormal situations
Illuminates evil by associating it with ordinary people – makes him of special interest to modern critics.
James I and Charles I were from the house / family of Stuart (whereas Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were Tudors); therefore, the masques were done in the courts of Stuart monarchs.
Masques were allegorical stories intended to compliment individuals or occasions. Scripts were a pretext for spectacle (similar to the intermezzi). Professional actors played roles; but it was three dances that were central to the masques, Much money was spent on them.
Inigo Jones (1573-1652) was an Englishman who studied at Florence and brought almost all of the ideas about Italianate staging to England court theatres.
Significance of the masques:
- used Italianate staging
- Puritans associated them with the monarchy –
So when the Puritan Revolution of 1642 came around, Charles I was beheaded, Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protectorate, and all the theatres were closed.
We will examine some aspects of the theatre that returned after the monarchy was restored (called Restoration Theatre) after we take a look at Spanish theatre during the renaissance.
* From NOVA Online Intro Course
