1. Introduction to Shakespeare Quick Write
Craft a 1-2 paragraph response discussing your previous learning experiences with Shakespeare. Things to consider:
Have you read any of Shakespeare’s plays or sonnets? If so, which ones? When? Where? What were those experiences like? Focus on your learning experience(s). For example, did you read the text(s) in class? How? Did you have assigned parts if it was a play? Were your experiences enjoyable? Why or why not?

2. 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

3. 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)

4. 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 ( )
First tragedy: Titus Andronicus ( )
Othello first performed (1604)

5. Shakespeare’s Theater

6. 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 until around 1660)
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)

7. 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 onward

8. 15 Minute Othello
Rehearse your lines: What is the tone of the lines? What word(s) will you stress?
Afterwards: What are possible theme topics of the play you might predict based upon this exercise?