HISTORY OF THEATRE PART 6

ELIZABETHAN THEATRE

THE GLOBE THEATRE THE Globe Theatre in London is a

round wooden building with an uncovered courtyard in the middle

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is built along the lines of the theatre Shakespeare acted in and is called an Elizabethan public theatre

2 current day festivals still perform Elizabeathan style theatre; Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Utah Shakespearean Festival

No original Elizabethan theatre is still standing

Elizabethan Theatre Elizabethan public

theatres were free standing buildings constructed of wood and plaster

They were either round or multisided and in the center was a large courtyard that was open to the elements

The Buildings were 3 or 4 stories tall and protruding into the center of the courtyard was a three sided stage about 5 feet tall

Elizabethan theatre The stage had at least one trap door in it so that

characters could enter from below High above the stage was a sheltering roof that gave

the actors some protection from the sun and rain The roof, beautifully painted to suggest the sky was

called the “heaven” The poorer members of the society would stand and

watch the play, these are referred to as groundlings The richer members of the audience paid a second or

third penny for admission to the seats on the second or third tier, where they were protected from the outside elements

What was most unusual about Elizabethan Theatres was that the sets stayed neutral they never changed, the dialogue described where the action was taking place

Elizabethan TheatreSHAKESPEARE’S PLAY Shakespeare's plays do not

depend on an illusion created by scenery, costumes or lighting

Their performance conventions were quite different from todays

For example to change the location of the action, one set of characters exited as another set entered through a different door.

The audience immediately understood that the scene had changed

SHAKESPEARE Shakespeare died in 1616 In 1642 a civil war broke out

in England during which the king was beheaded and the victorious Puritan government made theatre illegal

All the wood and plaster theatres fell into disuse or were torn down

By the time King Charles II was restored to the throne no Elizabethan public theatres were left

Renaissance Theatre in Italy

Literature, painting and architecture the Renaissance was in full flower

Architects saw the ruins of ancient Roman theatres all around them

They rediscovered De Architectura a book by a Roman named Vitruvius that included lengthy descriptions of what ancient Roman theatres were like

It was translated from Latin to Italian in 1486

The Italians made what they thought were improvements to theatres

* About the same time the English were building their wood and plaster theatres the Italians were rediscovering the glories of ancient Rome