THE BIRTH OF DRAMA

OBJECTIONS TO PLAYHOUSES Raffaella Mannori 2013-2014

MYSTERY PLAYS

MORALITY PLAYS

ENGLISH PLAYHOUSES

SOME IMPORTANT DATES

THE AUDIENCE

THE ACTORS

THE BIRTH OF DRAMA

THE BIRTH OF DRAMA

THE BIRTH OF DRAMA

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LITURGICAL DRAMA

MYSTERY PLAYS MORALITY PLAYS INTERLUDES

THE BIRTH OF DRAMA

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MYSTERY PLAYS

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MYSTERY PLAYS The history of English drama begins with the elaboration of the ecclesiastical liturgy; The rituals of Christian church at Christmas and Easter were inherently dramatic ( mutually answering dialogues between the priest and the choir); This liturgical dram moved out of the church , first into the churchyard and then into the market place ; Once outside the church vernacular ousted Latin and the story elements include the whole range of sacred history from thecreation to the Last Judgement; Liturgical drama gave way to plays in English, performed in the open , not related to liturgy but still religious in subject matters; Their organisation and financing passed into lay hands :trade guilds took over the sponsoring of the plays

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MYSTERY PLAYS

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Morality PLAYS They differ from MYRACLE PLAYS because they didn’t deal with biblical stories but with personified abstractions of virtues and vices, who struggle for man’ssoul; They developed in the 15° century ; Other common themes were THE DANCE OF DEATH ( in which Death comes and summons all, high and low alike) and the SEVEN DEADLY SINS

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EVERYMAN

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EVERYMAN EVERYMAN is summoned by death to make long journey from which there is no return ; he looks for friends to accompany him , but neither FELLOWSHI and GOOD DEEDS are willing to act as guide.

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THE INTERLUDE A kind of secular morality play with comic and realistic elements; a sort of playlet which oiginated as a performance between the courses of a banquet; it marked the transiction from medieval religious drama to Tudor secular drama

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Elisabethan playhouses

The world of the theatre

London’s permanent theatres

• The building of permanent playhouses in London marked a break with the past. • The beginning of the plays was announced by the hoisting of a flag and the blowing of a trumpet Raffaella Mannori 2013-2014

The world of the theatre

SOME IMPORTANT DATES • The Elisabethan theatrical world 1558-1642 ( in which theatres were closed down by the Puritans who controlled the City of London) • The first permanent public theatre :The Theatre (by James Burbage, 1576) Towards the end of the 16th century, several theatres were built. • The Curtain (by James Burbage, 1577) • The Rose (by Henslowe, 1587) The Swan (by Francis Langley, 1595) • The Globe (by Richard Burbage, 1599) • The Fortune (by Henslowe, 1600) • At the end of the reign of Elisabeth there were 11 theatres in London, including public and private houses Raffaella Mannori 2013-2014

The world of the theatre

OBJECTIONS TO PLAYHOUSES Respectable people and officers of the Church often made complaints of the growing numners of play-actors :  the plays were often lewd and profane;  the play-actors were often vagrants, irresponsible and immoral people;  the taverns and disreputable houses were often found in the neighbourhood of the theatres;  theatre itself was a public danger in the ay of spreading diseases;  the streets were overcrowded after perfomances and so crimes occured in the crowd and beggars infested the theatre section  Elisabeth ‘s policy was to compromise she regulated abuses but allowed the theatre to thrive.  In 1576 one oredr prohibitd all theatrical performances within the city bounderies  This banishment was not a misfortne but a cause of immediate growth : across the iver there was room or as many thaetres as Raffaella Mannori 2013-2014 people desired.

The world of the theatre

The Architecture of Theatres The playhouses: • were round or octagonal in shape; • were 12 metres high; • had a diameter of 25 metres; • had a rectangular stage.

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The world of the theatre

Internal layout The same basic structure consisted of: a stage partially covered by a thatched roof supported by two pillars and projected into a central area.

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The world of the theatre

Internal layout The structure included three tiers of galleries around the stage with actor’s dressing room at the back.

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Elisabethan playhouses

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Elisabethan playhouses

The world of the theatre

The audience • The spectators ate and drank during the performance. • They freely expressed their emotions with laughter or tears. • They had a relish for language and long speeches. Raffaella Mannori 2013-2014

The world of the theatre

The audience • They were eager for sensation and overwhelming emotion. • They loved metaphor and extremes. • They enjoyed thrills and horror. • They loved chronicles and history plays with heroic deeds (strong national feeling). Raffaella Mannori 2013-2014

The world of the theatre

The actors • Actors had to join a company of a prominent figure and bear his livery and arms (The Chamberlain’s Men of Elizabeth I and the King’s Men of James I).

• Theatrical companies were gradually transformed from irregular associations of men dependent on the favour of a lord to stable business organisations

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The world of the theatre

The actors  An actor’s shareholding depended on the sum he invested to buy props and costumes of which he was joint owner.  They :  share in the profits and the expenses;  handle the financial questions;  hire extra stff;  decide which play to perfom;  wok as stage- hands

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The world of the theatre

The actors • They had to vary their repertoire. • They had no more than two weeks to prepare a new play. • They often found themselves playing several roles in the same performance. • They should have excellent memory.

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The world of the theatre

Female roles • Companies included 5/6 boys to play female roles until their voices broke. • They learnt singing, dancing, diction and feminine gestures and intonation from a very young age. • Contemporary audiences found them very convincing. Raffaella Mannori 2013-2014

The world of the theatre

THE BIRTH OF DRAMA • Elisabethan drama was the result of a fusion between two different elements : • The classical drama of the Renaissance • The domestic tradition of mystery plays, morality plays.

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The world of the theatre

MEDIEVAL ELEMENTS • Mingling of comic and tragic elements ; • In the absolute disrespect of the Aristotelian unities of time, place and action; • In the concept of crime & punishment , which was a characteristic of morality plays; • Tragedy does not spring from the hostility of fate as it does in the Greek tradition but from a flaw in the protagonist’s personality.

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The world of the theatre

CLASSICAL ELEMENTS Seneca influenced tragedy: A. The theme of revenge; B. The inevitability of Fate; C. The violent treatment of murder , cruelty and lust; D. The stoic moralising; E. The supernatural element in the apparition of ghosts and forwarding dreams

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The world of the theatre

QUESTIONS  Why did liturgical dram move out of the church?  Fill in the table in the following slide about the characteristics of mystery plays and morality plays:  What does the interlude represent in the development of English drama?  What are the two souls which form the Elisabethan drama ?  What is the «blank verse»?  When was the end of Medieval religious drama?  Which period did Reinassaince drama flouurish in England?  What is the difference between public and private playhouses? Raffaella Mannori 2013-2014

The world of the theatre

QUESTIONS  Why did liturgical dram move out of the church?  Fill in the table in the following slide about the characteristics of mystery plays and morality plays:  Why was medieval dram important in the develoment of the genre?  What is the «blank verse»?  When was the end of Medieval religious drama?  Which period did Reinassaince drama flouurish in England?  What are the main characteristics of the Reinaissance drama?  What were the main reasons to write for Reinnaissance playwrights?  Who were the «University Wits « and who was the most celebrated among them?  Why was Italy often chosen in English plays as a background Raffaella Mannori 2013-2014 for violent crimes and unning behaviour?

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MYSTERY PLAYS vs MORALITY PLAYS MYSTERY Subiect Language Characters Setting Sponsoring

Place of performance

Authorship Raffaella Mannori 2013-2014

Actors

MORALITY