Shakespeare’s Theater

The World of Elizabethan Theater

HENRY VII—HOUSE OF TUDOR

Henry

MargaretMary

- Catherine of Aragon

- James IV of ScotlandJames V

Mary, Queen

of Scotts

James VI -Of Scotland

- Louis XII of France

Catherine of Aragon - MaryAnne Boleyn - Elizabeth

Jane Seymour - Edward

Kathryn Howard

Anne of Cleves

Katherine Parr

VI

I

I

Iof England

Arthur

VIII

Elizabeth I

William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was born in Stratford –on-Avon in 1564.

Little is known about his life before he established himself as an actor and playwright in London. He managed to marry and have a daughter before he left the English countryside for the big city.

By 1592 Shakespeare had gained a reputation as both an actor and a playwright.

In 1594, Shakespeare joined The Lord Chamberlain’s men, a theatrical company which enjoyed the patronage of the royal court.

He died on April 23, 1616 of a fever contracted after an evening of entertaining fellow writers, Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton, in his home.

During his years in London he wrote about 37 plays including comedies, tragedies, and histories

Elizabethan Theater

Theatre had an unsavory reputation. London authorities refused to allow plays within the city, so theatres opened across the Thames in Southwark, outside the authority of the city administration.

The first proper theatre as we know it was the Theatre, built at Shoreditch in 1576. Before this time plays were performed in the courtyard of inns, or sometimes, in the houses of noblemen. A noble had to be careful about which play he allowed to be performed within his home, however. Anything that was controversial or political was likely to get him in trouble with the crown!

1575 1615

The Theatre1576

The Swan1587

The Globe1599 The Hope

1613

Architecture of the Elizabethan Theater

There were three basic influences on the architecture of the Elizabethan stage:

First influence: ROYAL COURT

Even during the Middle Ages troubadours, acrobats, and players lived a nomadic lifestyle. The most successful performed regularly in royal courts in front of those appreciative members of the royalty who invited their presence.

Musician’s Gallery

ROYAL COURT

Dais

Second Influence: INNS

Traveling players also performed in Renaissance hotels or inns. The ideal buildings generally were arranged with an open area or courtyard in the middle. Performers erected a stage in the courtyard so that their audience could look down from their rooms and watch the action.

Third influence: BEAR-BAITING RINGS

Equally distasteful to London authorities were establishments that appealed to the lower classes, such as bear-baiting rings. These buildings were erected tiers of seating around an arena, much like the Roman Coliseum. A bear would be chained to a stake in the middle of the open area. Hungry dogs were loosed on it. Observers made bets as to which animal would “win.” An early lithograph from the period shows a bear-beating ring in the same neighborhood as the Globe.

Inside Elizabethan Theaters

The audience was divided into two divergent groups: those with some means bought tickets in the tiers. These audience members probably enjoyed Shakespeare’s historical and mythological references, character development, and plot development. They came not only to see great plays, but to be seen enjoying one of Elizabeth’s favorite entertainments.

The poor could purchase a cheap ticket and stand around the stage. These were called “groundlings,” those common folk who enjoyed the courser humor , supernatural, and violence onstage.

Scenery and Special Effects

There was little scenery in Elizabethan theater. Furniture, ornate or simple, provided the little scenic reality necessary. Little effort was made to create visual special effects.

Because the plays were staged during the daylight hours in an open-air theater, no effort was made to recreate special lighting effects. Dialogue became the only way the audience knew if a scene was occurring at night.

Occasionally battle scenes were accompanies by explosions from a canon contained in the “hut” which sat at the top of the theater. A spark from such an explosion which caught the Globe’s thatch roof on fire was blamed for its eventual destruction.

The Swan

The Globe

A recreation of the original Globe has been built on the approximate sight in London. It is a popular site of regular productions of Shakespeare’s plays.

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men

Tradition has it that Shakespeare began as an actor, then became a shareholder with the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. His skill at writing secured his position with this highly successful acting troupe during the Elizabethan age. The lead actor of the group was James Burbage, later Richard Burbage, James’ son.

It was for James, and then Richard, that Shakespeare wrote most of his lead roles including Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Oberon, Petruchio, Falstaff, and so on.

Elizabethan Theater: Actors

Because theater was not considered a reputable profession, women did not find a place on the stage. Instead, women’s roles were performed by older boys.

Shakespeare wrote . . .COMEDIES:

Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, All’s Well That Ends Well , Twelfth Night

TRAGEDIES:

Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello

HISTORIES:

1, 2, and 3 Henry VI, 1 and 2 Henry IV, King John, Richard II, Richard III, Henry V, Henry VIII

Significant Shakespearean Plays:TRAGEDIES

Macbeth

Romeo & Juliet

Othello

Hamlet

Anthony & Cleopatra

Julius Caesar

COMEDIES

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Taming of the Shrew

Merchant of Venice

HISTORIES

Richard III

Henry IV

Henry VI

Henry VIII

Romeo and Juliet

For never was a story of more woe,Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

Act V, Scene 3

Major Characters:

Benvolio – friend and cousin to Romeo

Tybalt – hot-headed cousin to Juliet

Capulet and Lady Capulet – parents to Juliet

Romeo Montague

Juliet Capulet

Montague and Lady Montague – parents of Romeo

Prince Escalus – ruler of Verona

Paris – handsome and noble suitor to Juliet: kinsman of the Prince.

Nurse

Mercutio – friend and kinsman to Romeo

Friar Lawrence

PROLOGUETwo households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;Whole misadventured piteous overthrowsDo with their death bury their parents' strife.The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,And the continuance of their parents' rage,Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;The which if you with patient ears attend,What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.