THET110NotesOctober 22, 2012The Medieval PeriodQuem QuaeritisMedieval Theater- Hell’s mouth – they would make hell appear really bad - Make heaven appear really good- Primarily church ideals- Pageant wagonHroswitha of Gandersheim- German Nun- Modeled plays on Roman comedy- Christian themes – especially the virtue of chastityThe Renaissance of Rebirth 14c-17c- Rebirth from middle ages- Return to classics of Greece and Rome - Humanism – free will- Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation and Henry VIII and Anglican Church- Trade and exploration - Gutenberg and Printing Presso Bibles printed in vernacularElizabethan England 1558-1603- 1588 – English defeated the Spanish Armada- Religious stability – she secured Anglican power- Patron of the artsElizabeth Staging Practice- Public theaters- Private theaters – indoors, more expensiveLocations of the Theaters- In London, in the theater district, across the Thames RiverCharacteristics of the Theater- Polygon – many sided- Partial roof- Many level auditorium (held approximately 2,500)- Yard (groundings) – standing lower classCharacteristics of the Stage- Raised thrust stage- Traps system – comes up from the floor- Backed by a tiring house (façade stage) – similar to the skene house- Heavens - Discovery space- Bare stage- During the dayScenery- Elsinore – platform before the castleFor Profit Theater- Sharing companies- Commercial theaterActing- All male casts- Declamatory style- Limited rehearsal time- Sides- Contemporary costumesWilliam Shakespeare- Born in Stratford on the Avon- Son of merchant- Wrote 38 plays- History plays – to praise house of reigning monarch- Tragedieso Hamleto Othelloo King Leon- Comedieso Midsummero Much To Do About NothingOther Playwrights- Christopher Marlowe- Ben JohnsonThe Cult of Shakespeare- Over 350 Shakespeare films exist of his works- Around 75 (20%) are of HamletTransition to Romanticism and Realism- Englando 1642: Charles I beheaded by Puritans who establish commonwealth They shut down theatero 1669: The Restoration – Charles II returns to England from France and brings with him: women on stageo Neoclassicism – In France, “New Classics”, return of the ideal forms of theater modeled after Greek and Roman theater Rigid and rule based Unites: time, place, and action Purity of genre: tragedy was about nobility and comedy about lower classes Decorum: people need to behave in appropriate ways for their social classRomanticism (Roughly 1750-1850)Context- Rousseau (1712-1778)o Nature over civilization Says that civilization is a corrupt forceo Revolutions 1776 in America 1789 in Franceo In literature The Hunchback of Notre Dame – monsters/tortured heroes Frankenstein – monsters/tortured heroes Robin Hood – heroes that give back to the poor, noble-y break laws Zorro – heroes that give back to the poor, noble-y break laws- Values imagination and emotion over rules and orderRomanticism on Stage- Romanticism was originally very controversialMelodrama (an off shoot of Romanticism) - Middle class or common characters- Black and white moral universe where good is rewarded and bad punished- Spectacle- Example: The Drunkard (1850) by William Smith – a temperance melodrama19th Century Social Context- Realism and Naturalismo The industrial Revolutiono Urban poor and slumso Louis Daguerre and daguerreotypesIconoclasts of 19th Century- Gregor Mendel- Karl Marx- Charles Darwin and Origin of Species- Sigmund Freud (unconscious, ego, superego, id)- August Comte- Empiricism: scientific method, the world can be explained, heredity and environmentFoundational Beliefs of Realism- Truth resides in material objects we perceive and is verified through science- Solutions can be found with the scientific method- Art should better mankindNaturalism- Emile Zola (1840-1902)o Theater should be a “slice of
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