The Renaissance Drama

What information have you to know about

Renaissance drama?When it flourishedIts themes Its languageThe companies of actorsThe playhouseThe playwrightsWilliam Shakespeare

1534Henry VIII’s schism

from the Roman church

The end of Medieval religious drama

1558 - 1642 Elizabeth I ascended the throne

Drama reflects the humanistic spirit of the new age

Renaissance drama deals with:

• Human nature;• Man’s life;• The man’s destiny on earth;• The man’s position in the universe;• English history to express the pride of the nation.

The common language expresses

• Strong emotions

•Disruptive passions

•Joyful

The main characteristics of actors:

• They belong to all the social classes;

• They travelled;

• They were servants of a Lord;

• They called their companies with the Lord’s name;

• There were no women;

• Young boys played women’s roles.

Before Elizabethan throne

Playhouse Movable platforms

Town square

The Elizabethan playhouse:

• Circular or polygonal in shape;

• The stage consisted of a rectangular place;

• Around the theatre there were three tiers of galleries;

•There weren’t used painted scenary.

The first group of playwright:

the “University Wits”Lyly

Marlowe

Endymion, Midas

Tamburlaine, Edward II, Doctor Faustus, The Jew of Malta

Identikit

Name: WilliamSurname: ShakespeareBirthday: 1564Death: 1616Profession: playwright and actorCompany: The King’s menTragedies: Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, OthelloComedies: The Comedy of Errors, Midsummer

Night ‘s Dream, The Twelfth NightThe Roman plays: Julius Caesar, Antony and

Cleoplatra, CoriolanusRomances: Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, The

Tempest

Lavoro eseguito da Elisa Regeni