Corso di Cultura 2010-2011

DRAMA and Theatre

SHAKESPEARE’s

DRAMA and Theatre

•Playhouses

•Actors

•Companies

•Playhouses

•Actors

•Companies

•Authoirship

•Texts

•Various editions

Shakespeare’s playhouses, actors and companies

Playhouses and players

–Performances were forbidden without authorization – The patronage of a

lord was the safest protection–Companies came to

be distinguished by the name of the patron

1572 “Act for the punishment of Vagabonds”

1594-1603Lord Chamberlain’s Men1594: riapertura dei teatri dopo la peste

Chamberlain’s Men, guidati da Richard Burbage, figlio dell’impresario teatrale James Burbage. Qui Shakespeare inizia la sua attività come full sharer (socio a quota intera dell’impresa teatrale).Il successo della compagnia (in un momento di forte rivalità tra varie compagnie) è dovuto essenzialmente a lui, capace di fornire in poco tempo un gran numero di copioni di successo (commedie, tragedie e drammi storici)

Shakespeare’s companies

Written texts were strongly affected by

the theatrical conditions of the

performance

Ex. Some characters were inspired by

the specific qualities of actors

in 1597 William Kempe (clown) was

replaced by Robert Armin (who inspired

the role of the fool)

Philip Henslowe The Admiral’ s Men

Richard Burbage (the leading tragic actor)(son of James Burbage, who had built the Theatre)

Will Kempe (the leading comic actor)Will Kempe (the leading comic actor)

William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare

The Lord Chamberlain’s MenThe Lord Chamberlain’s Men

1603 Queen Elizabeth I died

1603-1608

King’s Men: stagione delle grandi tragedie: Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra. 1608: nuova epidemia di peste, chiusura dei teatri pubblici. La compagnia dei King’s Men inizia ad usare sempre più frequentemente la sale dei Blackfriars

Evolution of playhouses

Elizabethan playhouses

• 1576 The Theatre (James Burbage)– The headquarters of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men

1594-1597 who then moved to the Globe

• 1577 The Curtain• 1587 The Rose (Philip Henslowe)

– The headquarters of the Admiral’s Men who then moved to the Fortune

• 1595 The Swan• 1600 the Globe• 1600 Fortune• 1608 The Blackfriars

1608- 1612 Blackfriars

Sala: ex-refettorio di un convento domenicano. Sala rettangolare 20 metri per 14.

Forma del teatro: non più circolare (la O di cui parla Amleto)Pubblico: molto meno numeroso (le dimensioni della sala erano ben lontane dalle possibilità di capienza del Globe: 3.000 spettatori) Indoor: consentiva di avvalersi di illuminazione artificiale (fiaccole), lo spettacolo iniziava anche intorno alle 3 o 4 del pomeriggio, mentre gli spettacoli all’aperto non iniziavano mai dopo le 2. Si cominciano a studiare effetti scenici particolari: collaborazione di Inigo Jones.

SHAKESPEARE’s

DRAMA and Theatre

•Playhouses

•Actors

•Companies

•Authorship

•Texts

•Various editions

•Authorship

•Texts

•Various editions

William Shakespeare

-1564: Baptized on April 26 (born on April 23)-1582: (november) he married Anne Hataway-1584: (May): his daughter Susanna was born.- 1585: The twins Hamnet and Judith were born-(1585-1592):LOST YEARS-1592: he was in London

-1616: he died (on April 23)

1592-1600

1601-1608

1608-1612

Comedies

The tragic phase

The romances

Authorship

• The romantic image of the artist as an individual genius

• The romantic image of the artist as an individual genius

•A broader, culturally based notion of authorship•reciprocity between cultural field and literary work: (cultural and social practices are seen as contributing to the creation of a literary work)

•A broader, culturally based notion of authorship•reciprocity between cultural field and literary work: (cultural and social practices are seen as contributing to the creation of a literary work)

vsvs

Theater is the most socially embedded of all artsTheater is the most socially embedded of all arts

Shakespeare’s plays are the products of a complex process of creation, realization and transmission

Shakespeare’s plays are the products of a complex process of creation, realization and transmission

Steven Greenblatt, Shakespearean Negotiations, OUP 1988

Steven Greenblatt, Shakespearean Negotiations, OUP 1988

“The literary production of a writer such as Shakespeare is conditioned and determined by historical and social forces that vastly complicate simple notions of authorship and artistic responsibility”

“The literary production of a writer such as Shakespeare is conditioned and determined by historical and social forces that vastly complicate simple notions of authorship and artistic responsibility”

textualitytextuality

deeply related notionsdeeply related notions

AutorshipAutorship

Textual instabilityTextual instability

No manuscripts of Shakespeare’s plays have survivedTextual scholars seek to establish as precisely as possible the exact words that Shakespeare wrote

– Of all forms of writing, drama is the one in which the author’s identity is more difficult to establish: it was a collaborative art

– The route from playwright to printer was long and complex

No manuscripts of Shakespeare’s plays have survivedTextual scholars seek to establish as precisely as possible the exact words that Shakespeare wrote

– Of all forms of writing, drama is the one in which the author’s identity is more difficult to establish: it was a collaborative art

– The route from playwright to printer was long and complex

From playwright to printerThe dramatist produced the manuscript: the foul papersAn early version of the play, containing marginal and interlinear additions…The dramatist produced the manuscript: the foul papersAn early version of the play, containing marginal and interlinear additions…

A professional scribe produced a transcipt for theatrical uses known as fair copy The copyist’s own linguisitc and orthographic features might intrude (i.e. the use of punctuation)

A professional scribe produced a transcipt for theatrical uses known as fair copy The copyist’s own linguisitc and orthographic features might intrude (i.e. the use of punctuation)

A member of the company marked up the fair copy, specifying theatrical business that the author might have left unclear, and attending to textual details. He thus produced the book of the play, an adjusted version of the fair copy that belonged to the company: it was the master copy used for the stage production

A member of the company marked up the fair copy, specifying theatrical business that the author might have left unclear, and attending to textual details. He thus produced the book of the play, an adjusted version of the fair copy that belonged to the company: it was the master copy used for the stage production

Various mistakes were possible

• The playwright wrote the manuscript

• The scribes who copied out the parts for the

actors often misunderstood the author’s

penmanship and introduced errors

• Actors often misremembered or altered lines

Any of these potentially faulty documents might have served as copy text for the printer

Any of these potentially faulty documents might have served as copy text for the printer

In folio

The printer folded the sheet once, making two leaves or four pages front and back

In quarto

The printer folded the sheet twice, making four leaves or eight pages front and back

sheetsheet

The large piece of paper (18 by 14 inches in size) with which the printer began and which was pressed into the inked type.

The large piece of paper (18 by 14 inches in size) with which the printer began and which was pressed into the inked type.

SHAKESPEARE’s

DRAMA and Theatre

•Playhouses

•Actors

•Companies

•Playhouses

•Actors

•Companies

•Texts

•Various editions

•Texts

•Various editions

The specific case of Shakespeare’s drama

Texts and Pretexts Texts and Pretexts

• Melchiori: ‘pre-testi’

“I testi di Shakespeare non venivano considerati opere letterarie compiute ma pretesti per un evento che si rinnova di giorno in giorno, mai uguale a se stesso”

Primo in-folio 1623 (36 drammi divisi da Heminge e Condell in comedies, tragedies e histories)

secondo in-folio 1632

terzo in -folio 1663

quarto in-folio 1685

Gli ultimi tre in-folio derivarono l’uno dall’altro, ed è quindi il primo il più interessante dal punto di vista filologico

In realtà la pirateria letteraria molto frequente: attori e editori senza scrupoli pubblicavano versioni ricostruite a memoria

Vari in-quarto (bad quartos)

I copioni erano di proprietà delle compagnie

Nessuna compagnia aveva interesse a far ‘pubblicare’ le opere:

I copioni erano di proprietà delle compagnie

Nessuna compagnia aveva interesse a far ‘pubblicare’ le opere:

Tutte le opere letterarie dovevano venire inserite nel registro della Corporazione dei Cartolai (Stationer’s Register) che per 6 pence in teoria proteggeva da violazione dei diritti di proprietà.

Tutte le opere letterarie dovevano venire inserite nel registro della Corporazione dei Cartolai (Stationer’s Register) che per 6 pence in teoria proteggeva da violazione dei diritti di proprietà.

In realtà i testi dei plays shakepeariani sono documenti teatrali sopravvissuti casualmente alla distruzione cui erano

destinati

Stanley Well: “I testi shakespeariani sopravvissuti al tempo presentano quei drammi in vari stadi composizione, ciascuno di essi non è che l’ istantanea scattata le tante possibili che non furono mai scattate”

Stanley Well: “I testi shakespeariani sopravvissuti al tempo presentano quei drammi in vari stadi composizione, ciascuno di essi non è che l’ istantanea scattata le tante possibili che non furono mai scattate”