Elizabethan Theatre Theatre History

Elizabethan Theatre England was the center of the Renaissance explosion. It wasn’t Renaissance, but Elizabethan Theatre, named after the Queen who ruled during that period. She was also very fond of the arts. Elizabethan era produced many great playwrights and plays. Performers sought patronage from wealthy noblemen. Actors who were produced by the wealthy were considered “legitimate.” Anyone who didn’t were considered to be rogues.

Elizabethan Theatre Cont. Women were not allowed to act because it was considered unladylike and unsuitable. Young boys played women’s parts. We consider this abnormal, but in that era, it was completely normal under the circumstances. Plays drew large, loud crowds, especially in the lower theatre levels, where admission was cheapest. Court plays – plays geared to a more intelligent audience – royalty and nobility. Beaumont and Fletcher wrote these kind of plays.

Elizabethan Theatre Cont. Civil War erupted in 1642 and theatre faded away until 1660, when England would get a new theatre.

Elizabethan Theatre Cont.- Elizabethan Stage Playhouses were round or octagonal with 3 levels of seating. Seating levels were reserved for those who could afford the fee. The pit, the bare dirt floor in front of the stage, was where the people with little money stood. They were called groundlings. Those willing to pay the greatest fee could sit on the stage.

Elizabethan Theatre Cont.- Elizabethan Stage Actors performed on a platform stage with trap doors scattered all over the stage. Little scenery was used because the theatre was open. No stage lighting, so performances were during the day. The Heavens – elaborately decorated ceiling to resemble the night sky. Balcony – a second story above the stage to be used as an acting area, but was most often used for the musicians. At the top of the building, they had a flag to inform the public of an upcoming performance that day.

Photo of Globe Theatre Click here for Link to photos: http://www.wfu.edu/~tedforrl/shakespeare/inpics.htm

Elizabethan Playwrights – Christopher Marlowe Born in 1564 in Canterbury and he died right before his 30th birthday in 1593 in a tavern brawl fight. He introduced blank verse. There was a fierce rivalry between he and Shakespeare for greatest English dramatist. Most famous plays: Tamburlain the Great, The Jew of Malta, Edward II, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.

Elizabethan Playwrights – Ben Jonson Born in 1573 and died in 1637. Considered to be the first English comedic writer. Most famous plays: Volpone, The Alchemist and Every Man in His Humour.

Elizabethan Playwrights – William Shakespeare He was born in 1564 and died in 1616. Greatest playwright ever. He wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets. None of his plays were published till after his death. It is argued that his plays were altered by others, so they may not be entirely pure. Most famous plays: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, The Taming of the Shrew and The Tempest.