The Development And Popularity Of The Elizabethan Theatre

The theatre has been a part of entertainment since ancient Greece, around 4th century BC or thereabouts. The theatre grew out of festivals in honor of the god Dionysus. Aeschylus created the first play in her honor. The first Greek plays were all tragedies but eventually comedy made its way and these plays were performed at festivals all over Greece. Through the centuries theater played the main role of entertainment from noble and royalty to the common person in any city or village, and as we move into the twenties

How did Elizabethan theater affect popular entertainment? It affected popular entertainment massively at the time because it was very different than anything that had been popular entertainment before it and because even though it was popular it attracted a lot of criticism from the English Society. It came about in a time when drama shifted from religious to a secular function in society. The Elizabethan Theater lasted from the end of the 16th century and well into the 17th century. And it set out the stage for some actors very well-known even today.

"To the Queen's interest, some six to ten plays were given every winter at court and she saw many others when in progress throughout the country or while attending weddings or banquets in London."(Clunes 27) Within time, Elizabeth was awarding more performances in court. That is one of the ways Elizabeth helped the theater arts to florish. The more performances that were given, the more theater became popular, and the more the people of England wanted to see it. The Companies During the Elizabethan Era many things emerged. Amongst them was the creation of Adult Companies. Approximately twenty-four Adult Companies were developed. (The Count Intruders, The Earl of Leicester's men, Lord Rich's Men, Lord Abergavenny's Men, The Earl of Sussex's Men, Sir Robert Lane's Men, The Earl of Lincoln's (Lord Clinton's) Men, The Earl of Warwick's Men, The Earl of Oxford's Men, The Earl of Essex's Men, Lord Vaux's Men Lord Berkeley's Men, the Earl of Arundel's Men, The earl of Hertford's Men, Mr. Evelyn's Men, The Earl of Derby's Men (Lord Strange's) Men, The Earl of Pembroke's Men, The Lord Admiral's (Lord Howard's, Earl of Nottingham's), Prince Henry's, and Elector Palatine's Men, The Lord Chamberlain's Men (Lord Hunsdon's) and King's Men, The Earl of Wosterster's and Queen Anne's Men, The Duke of Lennox's Men, The Duke of York's (Prince Charles's) Men, and

Imagine watching the famous plays of William Shakespeare being performed right in front of yours eyes at the amazing Globe Theater. William Shakespeare was part owner of The Globe Theater. The famous Globe Theater was a place where outstanding plays were performed. This theater held people from all over the world to watch performances. In the article “The Elizabeth Era” states that “often the Queen would come to the Globe Theater to watch Shakespeare’s work “(Alchin). The Globe Theater has great significance to British history because of the building structure, the actors, the performances, the fire accident, and its impact on England and its people.

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

These rings were often merged with inn-yards which were used to hold some of the earlier play performances. The result of the merging basically became the foundation for the Elizabethan amphitheater. During the 16th century the first theater was created, which had the same seating arrangement as the baiting arenas, but had a secure stage as well as a cobbled floor as opposed to the original dirt ground to allow for plays to be held in any kind of weather. Although the main purpose of this new type of theater, the amphitheater, was to house plays, bear baiting could also still be conveniently held in the same structure, providing for both gamblers and the new show business. The importance of the creation of the amphitheater was the easy transition that it delivered for the English Renaissance to take place.

During this time period, there were not any televisions, cell phones, or computers. Because of this people relied on the theater to keep them entertained. Though officially approved playhouses and acting companies had only been around for about five years The Lord Chamberlain's Men was one of the two acting companies that were permitted to perform in London city limits. Lord Chamberlain's Men used the globe theater, while the other group used the Rose Playhouse which was owned by an impresario and his son-in-law who was a former actor. In 1576 the Blackfriars Theater was built, but Lord Chamberlain's Men could not use it to perform in. This is why the Globe Theater was built in 1598, though they could not finish the original construction because

„h The form of Elizabethan theatre derived from the innyards and animal baiting rings in which actors had been accustomed to perform in in the past. They were circular wooden buildings with a paved courtyard in the middle. Such a theatre would hold around 3,000 spectators. The yards were about 80 feet in diameter and the rectangular stage 40ft by 30ft in height

     Once plays started being written, the number of interested spectators increased. In order to satisfy the Greeks amphitheaters were constructed all over Greece. Three well-known theaters were the theater at Delphi, the Attic Theater and the theater of Dionysus built at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens. During their prime time, the plays attracted crowds of 30,000 and more. The stands were built around the orchestra and up hillsides; somewhat like a baseball stadium today. This made it possible to seat more than 17,000 spectators at a time.

It's a general term for covering plays that are written and performed publicly in england during the reign in 1558-1603.

When Christopher Marlowe, the most famous playwright in his time (Lace, 79), died, William Shakespeare was his successor. Shakespeare decided drama was to be his career after seeing the Queen’s Players during a visit to his hometown of Stratford-on-Avon in 1587 (Lace, 79). By the time of Marlowe’s death, Shakespeare was already well known for his three part “Henry VI” in 1592 (Lace, 79). His plays “Love’s Labour’s Lost” and “Romeo and Juliet”, both in 1594, were performed and he became the most outstanding playwright of his time (Lace, 79). Before Elizabeth’s reign was over, “Richard II”, “Julius Caesar”, “Henry V”, and “Hamlet” had been performed (Lace, 79). James Burbage was the second most influential actor of the Elizabethan period, but not only for his acting talent. Burbage built the first ever public playhouse in England, opening in 1576 (Unknown, 218). Burbage financed the building of “The Theater” alone, a well off man but was still considered a rogue. Actors were not the only influence on theater. When Mary Tudor decided the throne was rightfully hers, the War of the Roses ensued (Lace, 73). Because of the War of the Roses, many nobles, that employed actors, were killed (Lace, 73). This forced actors to form their own troupes (Lace, 73). In 1572, parliament passed the Poor Laws, making it a criminal offense to be a vagabond (Lace, 75). This reduced the number of acting companies and required them to be

Although condemned by London authorities, along with cock-fighting, bear-baiting and the bawdy attractions of taverns, the Southwark theater district operated outside the legal reach of the City's officials. But while the Globe Theatre, and indeed, the entire Elizabethan theater scene opened its doors to the low life of the pits, it also accommodated an audience of higher-status, well-heeled, and better educated individuals. As Harry Levin notes in his general introduction to the Riverside Shakespeare (1974), the "Globe was truly a microcosm or little world of man". With its logo of Hercules holding up the earth (as a temporary replacement to Atlas), the Globe Theatre constituted a "little world" in which the social elite rubbed up against a cross-section of common vulgarians, drunken idlers, and other shady, street-wise sorts. Yet, at the same time, the Globe was grand even in the eyes of Elizabethan society's most powerful and prosperous leaders. As Levin also observes in his prefatory essay, recently discovered documents indicate that reconstructions of the Globe as "a quaint little Tudor cottage" have been errant, since Burbage's house "may have had arches, pilaster, and other details of Baroque architecture". Contemporaneous accounts suggests that the Globe was far more impressive than the thatched and half-timbered models of it can capture, having a more spectacular look to its structure than is commonly recognized, one

Shakespeare has a difficult task entertaining the rowdy Elizabethan audience, especially during the exposition of the play, which sets up the entire plot. The audience needs to be engaged and invested in the play, otherwise many of the Elizabethan audience would throw food and furniture on stage or vandalize the theatre in response. Shakespeare employs a variety of techniques throughout the exposition of the play in order to do this, by creating tension between characters, introducing scandalous plots and unresolved issues right at the beginning of the play leaving the audience waiting for an answer. This essay will explore Shakespeare’s techniques and methods of engaging his Elizabethan audience.

“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 theater gained popularity based on the plays they would have showing. In most cases the plays would consist of humor, tragedy, or histories. Shakespeare was one of the most popular playwrights at this time, and many of his plays were performed in the Elizabethan theater. Among him were some other famous play writers,