BBL 3208 SHAKESPEARE AND RENAISSANCE DRAMA WEEK 4

BBL 3208 SHAKESPEARE AND RENAISSANCE DRAMA WEEK 4 l HISTORY AND DRAMA OF ELIZABETHAN ERA

HISTORY AND DRAMA OF ELIZABETHAN ERA l l l Dramas before the Renaissance period were confined within the church and later moved into the streets (strolling players). These dramas focused mostly on biblical stories and staged on temporary/makeshift stage (plays were performed on carts that the players pushed around from village to village ) The kind of temporary stage that was dominant in England about 1575 was the booth stage of the marketplace – a small rectangular stage mounted on trestles or barrels and ‘open’ in the sense being surrounded by spectators on 3 sides The backdrop was a cloth, usually open at the top and served as the changing room for actors. Before the Elizabethan period, there was no paying profession of writing and there were no specially-designed buildings for presenting plays until the last quarter of the sixteenth century.

A little bit more about strolling players They were actors, tumblers, jugglers, all rolled into one: they performed plays, they walked on stilts, they juggled, they created slapstick scenes - anything to please, to entertain and, of course, to earn themselves not only applause but money on which to live. l At the end of their performance they called upon the audience to be generous and went round with their hats collecting whatever was thrown to them. l If their performance pleased the crowd they would be well rewarded; if they did badly they would not have much for supper that night. Life was pretty hard and rewards unreliable for actors. l

Morality plays are likely to be performed in this manner

Morality play on a modern stage

From makeshift stage to great halls l l More refined performances took place in the great halls of noblemen's houses, of the Inns of Court, or of Oxford and Cambridge Colleges. In 1603 during the Great Plague, the King and his Court left London to stay at Hampton Court Palace and there Shakespeare's company performed their plays to entertain them. The Great Halls were, again, make-shift theatres and the Players would act in such places by invitation. A screen would be erected at one end of the hall and behind it there would be room for the actors to dress; in front, they would perform their play. In general, these would be more serious performances, often in celebration of a special occasion.

Advantages and disadvantages of playing in the inns Players were in no way responsible for their upkeep In both Inn-Yards and the Great Halls there would be a ready-made audience l Players always had to rely on the hospitality of innkeepers or of the noblemen and others who owned the Great Houses l They had no storage space, so they had to carry all their properties and costumes with them l The City of London authorities were hostile to them. Then as now, London was like a magnet and the Players in particular, were drawn to it since the population was such that they could perform the same play a number of times and still get an audience; furthermore, there was some prestige in playing in London; everybody who was anybody went to London to make his name l l

An example of a great hall in Kent

A need for a proper playhouse l l Eventually the public appetite for drama became huge and playhouses were erected on the south bank of Thames, where most illegal businesses operated. The London theatre scenario during the last years of the reign of Elizabeth was an exciting place since QE supported the activity. Elizabethan plays are meant to be performed on a stage where the needs and reactions of an audience always to be considered (entertainment sake). In a city of some 100, 000 people, perhaps as many as 15 to 20, 000 people attended theatre each week, even though play were presented during mid-day, when practically everyone had to work.

l l l From 1594 to 1600, 2 companies of actors operated in London: a) The Chamberlain’s Men (for whom Shakespeare wrote and performed) b) The Admiral’s Men. Unlike their predecessors (strolling players), actors played in structured facilities i. e. theatres/playhouses The theatres/playhouses were similar: large, octagonal buildings with 3 levels of spectators. The stage was especially large (ampitheatre): a ‘thrust’ stage that projected out into an open area. Cheapest seats (yard) at the front and spectators in this area did not sit. They only paid a penny and stood (2 -3 hours) throughout the performance.

l l l These people are called groundlings. They endured the sun, rain and snow because the playhouses were open at the top (open-air ampitheatre) Only those who can afford to pay slightly more can sit under cover (in one of the 3 tiers) The back of the stage for actors was called ‘tiring house’ (short for ‘attiring’) Audience were large, excited, expectant, noisy, and demanding (unruly) Plays had to entertain them, whether comedy or tragedy, or they became restless, disruptive, and even violent (even throw things on stage)

Elizabethan Playhouses It is customary to distinguish 2 major classes of permanent Elizabethan playhouse: ‘public’ (outdoor/open-air) and ‘private’ (indoor)

Public (outdoor/open-air playhouse) l Large, round outdoor theatres l Maximum capacity 3, 000 spectators l Were found only in the suburbs (outside London) l Majority of spectators stood in the yard for a penny (groundlings = lower class) l The remainder sitting in galleries and boxes for 2 pence or more (middle class) l Audiences were socially heterogeneous, mainly drawn from the lower classes

Private (indoor) playhouse l Smaller, rectangular, indoor theatres l Maximum capacity 700 spectators l Used exclusively by Boy’s companies l Were found only within the city of London l Audiences tended to be better educated and of higher social rank (high class) l Plays usually catered for the eyes of the Queen or King in reign

Public Playhouses in London No Name of theatre Year built Description 1 Red Lion 1567 Constructed by John Brayne, James Burbage’s brother-in-law. The entire structure cost about 20 pounds. The galleries were a single storey and rested on the ground without foundation, and there is no evidence that it lasted beyond the summer of 1567. 2 Theatre 1576 Built by James Burbage in the Shoreditch district just north-east of the City The first substantial purpose-built playhouse built in since Roman times. Its timber survived in the form of the Globe until the fire in 1613. Round open-air structure with a superstructural hut like that at Swan but does not prove that the Theatre had a stage cover. Patrons could apparently stand in the yard around the stage and either stand or sit in the galleries which enclosed the yard. Shakespeare’s plays written in the latter half of the 1950’s, Love’s Labours’s Lost, Richard II, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King John, The Merchant of Venice, I and 2 Henry IV, and Much Ado about Nothing, would have been written for the Theatre.

3 Curtain 1577 Sold to James Burbage and John Brayne by the owner, Henry Lanman for 1400 pounds in 1585. Erected in Curtain Close, Finsbury Fields, Shoreditch, . The Curtain amphitheatre was in use from 1577 to 1622 when it was closed by order of the Puritans. 4 Rose 1587 Erected on the Bankside district by Philip Henslowe and John Cholmley. Open-air ampitheatre playhouse, polygon in shape, has a small shallow tapered stage which either fronted or formed a chord across 3 auditorium bays Titus Andronicus and I Henry VI were certainly performed here.

5 Swan 1595 6 Fortune 15991600 Built by Francis Langley in the Bankside district. Intended to compete with the Rose. Named after the “Swans” swimming along the River Thames where it is located Open-air ampitheatre playhouse, virtually round in shape, has a stage projecting to the yard surmounted by a stage cover supported on 2 pillars. It was described as the largest of the playhouses of its day. It was closed in 1597 when Pembroke’s Men played The Isle of Dogs (Nashe and Jonson), which was highly critical of the government and which landed the dramatists in jail. The Swan had a revival of theatrical activity between 1611 and 1615 after it was opened again on 1602. Built by Philip Henslowe. Open-air ampitheatre playhouse. Broke the tradition of circular shape by making the gallery ranges in the form of square