French Neoclassic Theatre 1600 1700 everyone wants to be French men s fashion France in 1600 1 Fighting between Catholics and Protestants a Held back development of theatre until 1600 b Catholics could openly kill Protestants 2 Edict of Nantes a 1598 b Freedom of Conscience i Freedom of religion 3 Cardinal Richelieu a Supported the new young king b Wants to bring glory to France i Used arts ii Wanted total cultural dominance c L Academie Francaise i Judgment body almost censors ii Respected scholars and artists iii Made sure all art objects met a certain criteria d Brought in theatre tech from Italy e Brought over artists from Italy i Begins to have Italian like theatres built and plays performed The French Unities French interpretation of Italian translation of Aristotle s Poetics realism 1 Time 2 Action 3 Place a Action must take place within one day b Only one day goes by for the characters c Some plays worked others don t a Must be cause and effect action b Climactic structure c Focus on one point of action i How we get there ii What happens after a All of the action has to happen in as few of locations as possible b Preferably one place c Willing suspension of disbelief i As long as it makes sense in the story we accept it 1 E g Olaf in Frozen ii French had none 1 Wanted everything to be believable 4 Realism caused lack of a No soliloquys b No narrators c No supernatural characters with only one exception d No multiple subplots or extra characters i Have to be super focused e Actors had to act like the social status of the character i In set place and stereotype i Gold leaf and bright pastels French Neoclassic Theatre 1 Louis XIV the Sun King a Interior d cor style 2 Baroque Style a Upbeat music styles b Light and happy 3 Racine main tragic playwright a Well educated b Master piece Phaedre i Greek myth of a curse of mother to fall in love with stepson ii Sea serpent exception on supernatural character c Focus on internal conflict 4 Moliere main comedic playwright most done today a Well educated b Fancy family i Changes name from family name to save family s honor ii Actors seen as immoral and had to be buried in immoral places c Still done today on a regular basis i Makes fun of his own time taboos and hypocrisies ii Still relevant now 1 We still see same taboos and hypocrisies iii Very controversial 1 Many plays had to be rewritten to not be so offensive 2 Tartuffe was like that iv Did not belief people could change 1 Characters don t change from beginning to end of play v Human nature deformed by deviant behavior vi Deus Ex Machina 1 God from the machine 2 Plot device a Plot is resolved by external forces b Something else comes in to save the end of the play 3 Used in Dodgeball a Treasure chest written on it b Original ending had underdogs lose How Racine is Different from Snakes on a Plane 1 Snakes on a Plane we re okay with following plot rules and predictability a All external struggle b All external action c Early point of attack d Simple characters with no depth i Only serve as plot devices e Complex plot 2 Racine a Dramatic interest on internal struggle instead of external event b Simple plot with complex characters c Late point of attack d Internal struggle is action Theatre Spaces 1 Influenced by Italian theatres 2 Changes of scenery is minimal 3 Spectators on stage in boxes a Most prestigious place to sit b Everyone could see you 4 Musicians at back of auditorium 5 Scenery was neutral 6 Salle De Machines a Biggest theatre b Full of machines 7 Comedie Francaise a All kinds of plays b c Sponsored by the king with a very strict budget Just name of theatre i 1st national theatre in western Europe ii Example of best theatre production in France iii Began tradition of national theatres French Theatre Stagnates 1 1685 Edict of Nantes repealed a Religious civil war back on Internal conflict rises again b 2 Adherence to Unities kept theatre conservative a Heavily formulated and boring 3 Late in his reign Louis XIV stopped attending a Others wouldn t go because he stopped going 4 Theatre lost patronage and popularity Tartuffe 1 Follows the Unities 2 Wilbur s translation a Can t change language b Can t change locations c Can work with it to make it relatable today i Metaphors to connect world s together 3 Because of name of play Tartuffe is protagonist 4 Dorine a Antagonist to Tartuffe 5 Cleante a Voice of reason to plan 6 King s messenger is Deus Ex Machina a King saved the day but couldn t be played because it would be insulting b Monologue about how great the King is English Restoration Theatre 1660 1700 England s Spring Break 1 Before there was a war and Cromwell won and killed the king 2 3 After Cromwell dies his successors can t keep control In this time there was no theatre public entertainment Very strict dress code Restoration 1 Charles II took over after this he stayed in France during the bad time Therefore he brings back all the things from France a He brings back theatre and all the Fun 2 Primarily comedic theatre 3 Charles dies but does not have a male child to take over His brother James becomes king he is very catholic and at this point England is protestant a He is overthrown called the Glorious Revolution that was led by his children 4 This changes England to a Constitutional Monarch a Lots of change because of this causes philosophical thought idea of natural law Absolutism vs Representation 1 Thomas Hobbs had the idea that there are things we know that are right and wrong without being told they are People answered to an absolute ruler who is enlightened and always has your best interest in heart John Locke natural law needed to be by a representative government led by a constitution 2 a At this point only nobles could vote i Rise in middle class and wave that others can vote 1 Women were assumed to be a prostitute as a main job and an actress as a side job Idea that Changes in Theatre actors are immoral 2 Technology indoor Italianate theatre a not a popular theatre for nobles 3 The Unities plays written for this time period with a set of rules set out to write them John Dryden major play writer Made a new restoration style Wants them to be more 4 realistic reflect human nature in order to delight and instruct people Common way to teach morality a Idea that time and place in theatre is real and imaginary b Recognized that his time period is special and unique compared to other times it s a whole new world in terms of everything 5 Play All For Love