Elizabethan Theatre

…Starring William Shakespeare

Introduction Throughout the middle ages

plays were performed by workers in towns and were religious based, often retelling stories from the Bible.

However, this ended after Henry VIII’s break from Rome and formation of the Church of England in 1533.

At the beginning of Elizabethan times, there were

strollers, minstrels, jugglers musicians.

Queen Elizabeth I, ruler of England (1533-1603) encouraged the formation of the theatre and acting companies.

The Evolution of the Elizabethan Theatre

INN YARDS…

“Strolling players” – performed in different places, earning money

Inn-holders offered shelter to the Strolling Players

Temporary stages were erected by the actors here

The capacity of inn-yards was 500 peopleFirst form of commercial Elizabethan theatre1576 – 1594 – peak of Elizabethan inn-yard

theatres

Interior of an Elizabethan Inn-Yard

AmphitheatresJames Burbage built the

first Elizabethan theatre; “The Globe”. Construction was similar to the Roman amphitheatres

Social status and wealth determined the seating in Elizabethan theatre

Like the inn-yard, the rich would watch from the windows & galleries, ordinary people from the inn-yard.

Elizabethan PlayhousesProvided indoor venues for the

production of Elizabethan plays The Playhouses were more comfortable

and luxurious than other theatresPublic performances would cost between

1 to 3 pennies, while private theatre cost was 2 to 26 pennies

Suitable for winter and evening performances because they were roofed

Food and drink was served

The Elizabethan Playhouse

Actors and Acting Companies

Traveling companies performed wherever they could find audience

Notorious reputation of vagabonds and theftsTwo kinds of acting companies – adult companies

and boy’s choirsNo women were allowed onstageFour major acting companies: Lord Strange’s Men;

Chamberlain’s Men; Admiral’s Men; King’s Men

Actor-Audience RelationshipThe ‘thrust stage’ of Elizabethan

theatre, meant that the audience was right up in the action of the play. This made for a much more intimate experience of the delivery.

Audience were involved in the play – shouting suggestions, encouragements or curses to the actors

Dialogue revealed to the audience the time and place of the action, the characters’ identities and even their physical appearances

Stage Design and Sets In Elizabethan times there was

one permanent set. The back wall could serve as a

castle, house, palace, town, etc.

An inner stage was located at the back of the stage which could be closed from view with a curtain or used to represent inner rooms, caves and hiding places.

Above this inner stage was a balcony or upper-stage.

There was a muscians’ gallery and high above the stage was a turret from which a trumpeter announced the start of the play.

Costume

Audience could distinguish the more significant roles by what the actors wore.

Were very important to actors and crucial to a performance because there was little scenery.

More well-established actors owned their own costumes/acting groups owned costumes that were appropriate for many roles

Decorated with braid, embroidery, pearls, jewels, lace, and artificial flowers.

Costume and Make-upStrict laws about

dressing during the Elizabethan Age – Sumptuary Law

Make-up used by boy actors was lead-based and highly poisonous

They used wigs, masks, and different colored suits/spent a lot of money on clothing.

Lighting and Properties

• Plays were always acted in daylight; at this time there was no artificial

lighting.

• Props were simple.

• Chairs would be used to indicate the scene as being indoors, if a lantern was carried, it was night or a character wore riding boots, they’d been traveling. Common props were swords and banners.

The Playwrites

Playwrights took inspiration from the Roman theatre and writers like Seneca, who wrote about crime, revenge, witches and ghosts.

Elizabethan writers introduced theatre audiences to horror, the supernatural and GORE…

Famous playwrites included Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Lyly and Thomas Kyd.

The most well known playwright of Elizabethan times is William Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare ( 1563-1616)

Born Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564

Well to do parents; father was a glover

Married Anne Hathaway in 1582

Wrote 37 plays &about 154 sonnetsStarted out as an

actor for Lord Chamberlain’s Men (London theater co.)

Became Principal playwrite.

In 1599 Lord Ch. Co. built Globe Theater where most of Shakespeare’s Play’s were performed

Comedies, Tragedies and Histories

Tragedies Titus Andronicus Romeo and Juliet Julius Caesar Hamlet Othello King Lear Macbeth Antony and Cleopatra

Histories Henry VI, Henry Iv & Henry VIII Richard III and Richard II

ComediesTaming of the ShrewMidsummer Night’s

DreamMerchant of VeniceMuch Ado About NothingAs You Like ItTwelfth NightMeasure for MeasureAll’s Well that Ends WellThe Tempest

Ingredients of Shakespearean Plays

In Medias Res – always began plays in the middle of things.

Heightened Language - Blank Verse and Poetry

Puns References to Blood Foreshadowing Soliloquy – allowed audiences to know what a

character was thinking like a voice over of a soap opera

Monologues – long addresses by one character

References to GHOSTS and the supernatural

Imagery – references to night/light (to do with lighting in the theatre)

Asides The last person to speak

is always the person of highest birth.

Comic Relief

Shakespeare TodayElizabethan theatre is still plays a part in

our day to day lives, mostly through the influence of Shakespeare.

References to his work are in films, novels, plays, musicals, songs, poetry, artwork, satire…Even today his characters and storylines continue to inspire…

F.Y.I.Shakespeare coined over 1600 words still used today including countless, critical, excellent, lonely, majestic, obscene and its.

Said to have had a vocabulary of some 29,066 words. An average person’s today might use just 2000 words used in everyday conversation. With a vocabulary like that, who needs a dictionary?

Names coined by Shakespeare: -         Imogen (Cymbaline) -         Jessica (The Merchant of Venice) -         Miranda (The Tempest) -         Olivia (Twelfth Night) -         Cordelia (King Lear)