Important Dates 1485: medieval period ends; Renaissance begins Battle of Bosworth Field (last medieval king--Richard III of the house of Plantagenet-- killed by first Renaissance king--Henry VII of the house of Tudor) William Caxton brings first printing press to England, making information more accessible Called Renaissance (rebirth) because there is a rebirth of knowledge-- rediscovering past they didn’t know about, other cultures 1564: Shakespeare’s baptism 1576: first purpose-built theater opens in London (outside city limits), but not a lot of material out there for plays 1616: Shakespeare’s death

Shakespeare’s Education Start in morning, read Latin, translate it into English, translate it back into Latin If started with prose piece, turn it into poetry; if started with poetry, turn it into drama Teaching about LANGUAGE, so the perfect education if you want to be a playwright No professional writers until late 16th century, coalesces in 1576 with need for plays Didn’t have access to Greek dramatists, but did have ROMAN dramatists Domestic comedies: boy meets girl, wants to marry her but can’t because of her family, or because she doesn’t have enough money, etc. BUT there’s a happy ending Sensational tragedies (Senecan; gruesome myths)

Shakespeare’s Start So if you’re trying to be a playwright in 1580s London coming from small market town of Stratford-upon-Avon, how do you become a playwright? Small jobs around playhouse Working on others’ plays Recycling other people’s ideas and models you know from school First comedy: Comedy of Errors (1592-1593) First tragedy: Titus Andronicus (1593-1594) Recycles certain patterns: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl; in case of Romeo and Juliet (1594-1595) take comic pattern of boy meets girl, etc. and they all die because of misunderstanding He recycles these later in career in totally new way so you don’t recognize it

Shakespeare’s Theater

Shakespeare’s Theater Outside, performed in daytime (no other lighting) Created more interaction and involvement between actors and audience Limited set; relied on costumes, props, and descriptive language All male actors (younger boys played female parts) Church did not like playhouses, so built outside city walls Affordable: cheapest seats 1 pence, but had to stand (groundlings) Most important aspect was to HEAR the play, so more expensive seats were ones that had best sound Three tiers for audience (top most expensive) Top part above stage (heaven with trap door to come down from); stage itself (earth); below stage (hell with trap door to come up from)

Various London Theaters Theatre (1576) built by James Burbage; located in Shoreditch, north-east of City of London; dismantled in 1599 and rebuilt as Globe Curtain (1577); built just south of Theatre; used up until 1620s Rose (1587) built by Philip Henslowe; south of River Thames on Bankside; demolished in 1606 Swan (1595) competitor to Rose; closed by government order in 1597 Globe (1599); first burnt in 1613; second given tiled roof Fortune (1600); built by Henslowe; burnt down in 1621, but was rebuilt; demolished in 1661 Blackfriars (1608); purchased by Burbage in 1596, but used by LCM from 1608 onward

15 Minute Romeo and Juliet Rehearse your lines: What is the tone of the lines? What word(s) will you stress? Afterwards: What is a theme of the play based upon this exercise?