Essay on The English Renaissance Theatres, Stages, and Playwrights

The great William Shakespeare lived during a time of many noted and influential people such as Pocahontas, King James I, and Sir Walter Raleigh. Even though Pocahontas was born during the later years of Shakespeare’s life, interesting correlations exist between the playwright and the Indian princess. King James I of England wrote about witches, which gave some background information for Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth. As the special guest of Queen Elizabeth I, it is likely that Sir Walter Raleigh watched some of Shakespeare’s plays presented at court. The daughter of a Native American chief, the King of England, and the famous explorer, all lived and gained notoriety during the lifetime of William Shakespeare.

Rafe Esquith is more than an elementary school teacher; he is a role model to hundreds of students, teachers, and other individuals who have the honor of learning about him. Most teachers follow their school responsibilities to educate their children. Rafe not only educates them, but makes sure that he gets to know each child, enhances their self-esteem, and empowers them. Rafe also works the weekends just for his students who come to learn more. Rafe demonstrates various skills that are utilized in the social work field throughout the movie “The Hobart Shakespeareans.”

Back in Shakespeare's day theatre was different in many ways but also some parts were the same. How is it different? Well, obviously everything was cheap. Pennies for the pit seats, a few more for the galleries, and then the boxes were the most expensive which were probably not as expensive today. Another thing is, they had posters but they weren't really posters or like programs. They contained no lists of actors, and there were no programs, ushers, or tickets or any of the stuff we have today. The name was announced when you got to the actual play. Their playhouses were not sheltered. They were outside, unlike today how we have a building with a roof over our head for plays. They even had vendors walking around giving out food, like at a stadium!

To start with, one way the world of Shakespeare is different from today is the technology they had. When Shakespeare was born there wasn't electricity to power lights and chimneys were a new invention. Now almost every building has multiple artificial lights and we have lights that can change their color and processors that can do almost anything. This is supported in the article Shakespearean snapshots by Ace Pilkington when it says, "In Shakespeare's youth, chimneys were a new thing." The movie mentions that to get light to the theater they had to have an open roof. This allows for rain to fall in. Compared to modern theaters with over a foot of ceiling their technology is very poor. This shows how much technology has progressed

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

Next, the performance at The Globe Theater help separate it’s self from the other theaters. “The plays at The Globe” article articulate, “As soon as a play had been written it was immediately produced and printed followed productions”(Alchin). Rival theaters would send out some of their workers to go to the plays to produce unauthorized copies, plays and they were copied quickly as possible. The fact that, other theaters copied The Globe Theater’s plays shows that the plays performed there had the other companies scared of losing their audience so they had to do something similar to The Globe Theater. It proves the plays performed were a huge success and very profitable. The plays and overall Theater had a tremendous influence on the people of England in several ways.

„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

Back then, the crowds loved actual, real life gore or torture scenes, and if they didn't like an actor or the play itself, it was common for them to throw whatever the are eating or something else at the people on stage. The also didn't bathe very often and were unsanitary, so you can imagine that with them packed together like sardines, it caused disease to spread quickly among the groundlings, and it didn't smell to pleasant either. The crowds were also very unsafe, because, if they really hated a play so much, they would burn down the theatre, which is what happened to Shakespeare's first theatre, which was called the globe.

William Shakespeare was a famous play maker but little do people know that he wrote a lot of poems . He was born in Stratford-On-Avon, United Kingdom on April 23, 1564. He was 62 when he died. In his lifetime he married Anne Hathaway, had three children, two girls but the boy died in early boyhood, he joined a bunch of groups, he learned Latin and a little bit of Greek. Shakespeare wrote his first poems only because the theaters was closed due to the plague. During writing his poems he invented thousands of words. Often combing words that are in different languages such as Latin and Greek. Some of the words that he created are; arch-villain, birthplace, and bloodsucking. His poems were described as " immortalization of beauty and love in poetry." He created 5 long narrative poems. Shakespeare is often known by England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon." He went to King's new school. After the birth of his twins, there where no records recorded, these years were called the "Lost Years." There are some theories for the sudden disappearance. One was that he went into hiding for poaching animal skins from his landlord. Another theory is that he was working

The theater held about 3,000 people. Flags were used to alert individuals what performance would be showing because many of the Lower Class were still illiterate. When the plague struck London in 1603, many of the London playhouses were shut down including the Globe. Actors and play writers such as William Shakespeare and his acting troupe fled the to the country in the hopes of escaping the plague. The Globe was reopened once the plague had ended, but it was closed again in 1613 due to a fire. A performance of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII shot cannons during a certain scene, which happened to catch the ceiling on fire. The theater burned completely in less than two hours. Another theater was built to replace the original, but its thought that Shakespeare did not write plays any

Shakespeare’s first job was holding horses outside the theaters( absolute shakespeare). Between 1590 and 1592, Shakespeare’s Henry v1 series, Richard theard, The comedy of errors were performed. jan 1593, London theater’s are closed due to an outbreak of bubonic plague (black death) that eventually kills about five percent of the city’s residents. Shakespeare wrote his first play when he was 25 years old. This gave shakespeare a little bit of time to write poetry (shampoo). By 1594, He also written, the Taming of the shrew, the two gentlemen of verona and love’s labor’s lost. Established himself as an actor and playwright. In 1594 became a shareholder in the lord Chamberlain’s men (absolute shakespeare). Aug 11, 1596 William and Anne bury their only son Hamnet, one of the twins, who died at the age of eleven and half of unknown causes (shampoo). The same year his son died he wrote King John ( absoluteshakespeare). By 1597, 15 of his plays has been performed. May 1597, Shakespeare buys New place. Thanks to his wealth from theater work and shrewd investment (shampoo.com). He bought the second largest house in town ( folger.edu). Shakespeare lived a double life. seventeenth century, became a famous

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

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.

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.”