Characteristics Of The Elizabethan Theatre

Shakespeare is well known for using stage managers to shape audience understanding or responses. As a playwright during the English Renaissance period, Shakespeare draws on literature models from two cultures Greek and medieval English plays. One example of Shakespeare’s use of these models is evident by examining the stage manager character type in Greek, English Medieval, and English Renaissance literary periods. Shakespeare appears to use the commentary quality of Greek chorus and the medieval English use of a single stage manager character to produce more sophisticated stage managers that integrate smoothly into plays but still shape audience understanding or response.

The theaters of that time did not use scenery but focused their efforts on costumes and special effects. They consistently used fireworks, trap doors, and dramatic flying entrances. Unlike today’s theaters, they were open-air and used natural light, with performances occurring in the afternoon hours. The theater’s circular structure surrounded a central rectangular stage (Thomas). The behavior of the audience often became very rowdy, joining in on the action occurring on stage, threw rotting vegetables at the actors (Thomas). This theatrical atmosphere forced him to write with an interactive, responsive audience in mind, drawing out emotion and passion in each scene

From the violence that was prevalent because of the Black Death, people turned to the theater for many reasons. Elizabethan theatre was popular for its time because Queen Elizabeth encouraged the arts, it was somewhere for every social class to go, and people could relate to the plays. One of the reasons that Elizabethan theatre was so popular was that it was enjoyed by Queen Elizabeth herself. Elizabeth loved learning new things. She would read and study for hours at a time. She also had a lot of knowledge when it came to history. She could read books in Latin and French. When she grew older, she could translate classic works into English. She also enjoyed writing and reading poetry, and a few of her poems still exist today. Elizabeth was also into arts and literature. She loved watching plays and dramatic performances. “She hired her own company of actors called “The Queen’s Players.” The art spread because of the queen. Her

Queen Elizabeth came to be known as one of the greatest rulers of the English empire. Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a more efficient government was created. The church was unified, the English empire was expanded, and language, literature, and theater flourished to a greatness that would be impossible for almost any other period of English history, or any other European empire, for that matter, to match. Although there was a great rise in literature,it was theater that catapulted to greatness during Elizabeth's reign. Out of Elizabeth's era came Elizabethan theater. Elizabethan theater has such a variety of topics, that would make it virtually impossible to talk about in ten pages.

cost 1 penny, to sit cost 2 pennies and for a wealthy person to sit

The actors were expected to perform their own stunts. They had to have a good memory to learn and memorize their lines in a short time period. William Shakespeare acted in some of the productions of the plays. Males had to act out the female parts of the plays because females were not allowed to perform in theaters at this time. Although, all of the actors worked hard, the males who dressed up as females got paid the least; this proves they had a lot of dedication to their work. The actors help make the plays at the theater a huge success and very profitable to The Theater.

As theatre began shifting away from the political sphere in the Elizabethan period and focused more on comedic and tragic genres, playwrights were able to feature more intimate and domestic issues in their spectacles, but still regarded courtly settings as the appropriate setting

Many people that showed up to the plays were not very wealthy upper classmen. Royalty always paid to have the plays in their private homes. The upper class nobles would pay 5d for better seats in the lords room. The lower class or commoners were commonly groundlings or stinkards and would stand in the theater pit. They paid a 1d fee to get into the theater. The theater could hold up to 3000 people after getting the outdoor viewing area finished. Many people stand around selling food, drinks, as well as people selling different

“Theatre makes us think about power and the way our society works and it does this with a clear purpose, to make a change.”

In the words of Gay McAuley, “for an activity to be regarded as a performance, it must involve the live presence of the performers and those witnessing it…” (McAuley, 2009, cited in Schechner, 2013, pp.38). This statement recognises the importance of both the actor and the audience for something to truly function as a performance. In addition, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones highlights the significance of the theatrical space and how it can influence an audience stating that “on entering a theatre of any kind, a spectator walks into a specific space, one that is designed to produce a certain reaction or series of responses” (Llewellyn-Jones, 2002, pp.3). The relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space is no less important today than it was at the time of theatre during the Spanish Golden Age and the creation of Commedia dell’arte in Italy. Despite being very close geographically with theatre thriving for both in the same era, sources that explore the social, cultural and historical context of these countries and the theatre styles will bring to light the similarities and differences. This essay will analyse the staging, the behaviour of the audience as well as the challenges the actors faced, and how this directly influenced the relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space.

a. What this shows is how people were influenced by the way how the Elizabethan theater entertained people and how they brought so many people to bring together to enjoy their time. The Elizabethan theater was a great entertainment area that people can afford to enjoy the things they would like to see or do over

Drama changed literature and theater into what it is today. I. History of Elizabethan Theater a. forming of theater 1. medieval church 2. mystery and morality b. actors 1. rogues and thieves 2. acting guilds II. Influences and people a. commanding actors 1. Shakespeare 2. Burbage b. other 1. wars of the roses (other historical influences) 2. laws restricting theater III. The theaters a. prices 1. seating 2. stage b. the theater and the globe 1. locations and characteristics 2. Burbage and other accomplishment Elizabethan Drama During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, England underwent a dramatic change in priorities. The importance of art and literature became highly prevalent. The impact of the Elizabethan drama and

“In roughly built playhouses and cobblestone inn yards, an extraordinary development took place in England in the 1500s.” (Yancey, 8). At that time, an opportunity combined to produce literature achievement never before witnessed in the history of drama and theater. The renaissance, helped spark this movement by inspiring scientific and artistic creativity throughout the land. Models began writing dramas that portrayed life in both realistic and imaginative ways. This created work later captured the attention of the world that changed the English drama. The many aspects of Elizabethan theater helped to shape the acting and theater world forever.

The history of theatre in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries is one of the increasing commercialization of the art, accompanied by technological innovations, the introduction of serious critical review, expansion of the subject matters portrayed to include ordinary people, and an emphasis on more natural forms of acting. Theatre, which had been dominated by the church for centuries, and then by the tastes of monarchs for more than 200 years, became accessible to merchants, industrialists, and the less privileged and then the masses.

There were other amenities that were lacking for the theaters. Almost all the lighting for the theater was natural light. This meant that most plays would have to be show during the daytime. The theaters did not have heating either. In the winter months they would have to shut the theater down and be transferred to indoor playhouses. This actually helped boost popularity because it gave the people something to do during the cold winter months since it was inside. There were no microphones or soundboards to be able to hear so actors had to speak loudly and clearly. Unfortunately, there were also no toilets at the theater. “But there were no toilets and the floor they stood on was probably just sand, ash or covered in nutshells” (Shakespeare Globe Education). During the summer hours when it would become real hot the pit would be called the “stinkards.”