Renaissance Theater 1485-1660 Preeminent period of English drama Drama originated from religious ceremony Early types of plays Miracle or mystery plays – based on Bible Moralities – taught people how to live Interludes – a variety of one-act plays Comedy was introduced during Renaissance

Renaissance Drama Two groups of dramatists University graduates – known as high comedy – witty and sophisticated Robert Greene John Lyly Those who were not formally educated – wrote a “lower comedy” – farcical in nature Shakespeare Ben Jonson Tragicomedy – ends happily like a comedy, but characters endure life-threatening circumstances like a tragedy – developed by John Fletcher

Shakespeare Father was a mayor 1582 – married Anne Hathaway had 3 children 1592 – became an actor and playwright actors were not considered respectable Theaters were constant target of officials felt employees wasted their time at theaters felt that disease was too easily spread 1594 – joined theater group known as Lord Chamberlain’s Men 1603 – became known as the King’s Men their patron was King James Acted and wrote for this group until he retired in 1612 In all, wrote 37 plays in 20 years – averaged 2-4 plays per year known most for his comedies, histories, and tragedies Characters are universal – true to life

The Globe plays were not published after performances – didn’t want to give other theater groups material makes it difficult to account for dates and accurate manuscripts performed in the Globe theater – the wooden “O” In 1576 James Burbage built a theater in the suburbs of London – “the Theater” was the first public theater. Others were then built outside the city limits to avoid license requirements and closings imposed by London officials. land was leased – owner raised rent in 1599 decided to tear it down, take pieces to another property and rebuild it just south of the Thames River then became known as the Globe held crowds of 2 to 3 thousand people

The Globe Three parts of the Globe: The building proper – 3 stories high – surrounded the inner yard The stage – stuck out in the yard with spectators on 3 sides The tiring house – 2 story back wall for the stage – also, a gallery above for musicians, certain scenes, etc. The curtains at the back of the stage helped distinguish indoors from outside props. Audience could sit on 3 sides of the stage – very close to stage Limited the amount of sets they could use audience relied on imagination no artificial lighting/no curtain as we use it today Atmosphere was more like a professional baseball game than Broadway today audience openly expressed its reactions to the play they ate, drank, and talked during performances In 1613 the Globe burned down when cannons were fired and sparks landed on the thatched roof.

Macbeth Tragedy – a play in which human actions have their inevitable consequences, in which a character’s bad deeds are never forgiven or corrected. An ill-judged action will lead to a catastrophe Tragic hero – usually the title character in a tragedy whose actions bring about his own downfall Tragic flaw – the problem or character defect that causes the hero to do such destructive actions Soliloquy – a long speech in which a character who is usually alone onstage expresses his private thoughts or feelings. Aside – private words that a character in a play speaks to the audience or another character, which are not supposed to be overheard by others onstage.