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Reviving Tamburlaine Research Paper

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In the early 16th century, art was on its way to a breaking point in England. The English Renaissance was near existence. One of the most influential playwrights, Christopher Marlowe, was creating plays that people fell in love with. They not only differed from the average plays of the 16th century but they took on controversial themes. Tamburlaine in particular was extremely well received by the public. Marlowe was not the 100% put together playwright who children fantasized and churches praised. He was probably one of the most scandalous playwrights to be as successful as he was. There are rumors that he was, “He was a spy, homosexual, a blasphemer, and an atheist.” (The English Renaissance by Andrew Hadfield). While there are many arguments …show more content…

When reviving Tamburlaine in 1976 by the Oliver Theatre, the directors wanted to slightly imitate the style of acting that was present when the play was first performed (Clare 74). The stylistic nature of physical gestures were elements of acting that were extremely relevant way more during the late 16th century than in the 1970’s. Jane Clare’s article, Marlowe’s ‘theatre of cruelty’¸ in the book Constructing Christopher Marlowe edited by J.A. Downie and J.T. Parnell expands on the ideas of Marlowe and his cruel plays (like Tamburlaine the Great). It’s important to understand how and why certain facets of performing and producing these plays existed when they were created; being able to assimilate parts of that culture and artistry into our own helps integrate the original ideas of the play. Whether those facets are applied or modernized, they are still adding an incredible foundation to create from. When reproducing this play is particular, many directors try to allow the violence to have importance. It was incredibly important during its heyday, not necessarily with graphic and intense fight scenes, but with such moral violence and aggression. There were plenty of deaths too and also a great amount blood, I …show more content…

As living and breathing organisms, we evolve. We evolve mentally, physically, spiritually, and artistically. What is evolution without the former? More times than none, we want to learn from our history to progress and improve. Theatre history not only inspires us, but guides us. We have all of these incredible resources and tools so that theatre can constantly change and grow. Theatre history allows us to see what works and what doesn’t without failing viciously. We are taught how to accurately say something. Art is generally a product of society. So, when there are these incredibly successful pieces of art that were able to affect society and change people’s thinking (i.e. the English Renaissance, the Enlightenment Period, etc.,) we can take note of how they did it and we learn how we can do it. From Marlowe, we learned that you can be an individual and still make a many significant pieces of art. You can even inspire other greats. Most importantly, we learn that there is no wrong way to do theatre. There is Noh Theatre, Comedia Dell’arte, Greek Theatre, Kabuki, The English Renaissance, and so many more types of theatre that were and some that still are extremely successful. If Thespis hadn’t stepped out of the singing men and made a fool of himself, or if Izumo no Okuni hadn’t practiced

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