Renaissance 1 What did the renaissance merge from a Roman Para theatricals Bloody gruesome Often deadly Christians often died for entertainment b Pagan origins of theatre Christians were tortured or killed for entertainment Made them not fond of theatre Morally corrupt subject matter o Sex etc Actors were lying when they stepped on the stage c The fall of Rome 476 ACE Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity d 500 years NO THEATRE NO RECORDS OF THEATRE IN EUROPE e Middle Ages 950 1000 AD The Feudal System o Priests and clergy o Nobles o Merchants farmers and craftsman o Serfs and peasants Emphasis on the spiritual world Most prolific writer is anonymous in middle ages f Theatre Returns Christian Church Function Educational tool for the illiterate masses g Quem Quaeritas Call and response Spread even outside the church h Liturgical Drama Saints Bible Stories Morality o Fall of Lucifer o The garden of Eden o Cain and Abel Everyman o Characters named after various sins o People act out their sins o And righteous people get rewarded Oberammergau o German 1633 o Town undergoes misfortunes a War b Plague c In danger of dying off o So people prayed and promised o If God will save us we ll do play every year o 1634 Play of the suffering death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ o Every Decade o Next is in 2020 i New entertainment Jugglers Mimes Folk plays Mumming s Prcessionals j New Characters Robin Hood Green Dragon k Hrotivitha of Gandersheim Debate Humanism Renaissance man philosophy o Ideal man c Protestant Reformation d Trade and age of exploration Cannoness 1st woman playwright we know of None of her plays were preformed She wrote them as a woman is very important 2 What was the renaissance like Rebirth a b Return to the classical ideals Ancient Greeks o Single person who is very well rounded arts sports Send English and traits all over the world e The Four Humours Theory of the body Composed of different fluids that come form different organs and dictate personality One organ making too much fluid unbalances personality One organ that s not producing enough will unbalance you Fluid dictate personality and health f Hysteria Scared a woman s uterus would get lodged somewhere and the woman would become hysterical g Organs playing key part in health and personality h Queen Elizabeth I 1533 1603 1538 1603 reign longest monarch of this time period Political stability Church of England o Reformation is a very thorny huge topic o Led to situation when Elizabeth took over with religious o Division between Catholics and protestants o Found a way to find a middle line between the two turmoil religions Also clamped down on conversation of religion in arts Diffused tension but it still can jump up and become a major issue Great patron of the arts 3 How is Renaissance theatre characterized a Outdoor open air theatre b Private Theatres Globe Theatre in London Cheap tickets amount anyone can afford except for super poor for the working class Public theatres would let 1500 3000 people to see theatre Censorship Shakespeare s theatre Smaller indoor space Expensive tickets 750 people Less censorship Focuses on being a private club Most acting done by men men would play female roles Blackfriars Theatre c Terms Know for exam Thrust stage Audience on Three Sides o Intimate playing space even with many people everyone s close to the stage Yard filled with groundlings audience members that stand down in the yard close to the elevated stage o Cheap seats cost a penny Trap door In stage floor and ceiling of stage o Fly someone in have someone fall in have burial scene in Hamlet Heavens Underside of ceiling etc o Juts out over stage o An area painted with beautiful pictures cherubs sky Tiring House Three levels right behind stage o First floor discovery space space with at least one door in it for entrances exits surprise reveals o Second floor Used in show but for things like balcony scenes in Romeo and Juliet o Third floor Mostly storage o Used for actors to change costumes d Globe theatre Reconstruction 1983 1997 Sam Wanamaker o Went to London in 40s and decides to see a theatre where Shakespeare did a lot of his work o Finds out where Globe theatre was but finds the theatre is gone o Sets out to reconstruct theatre o Decade long proposition o Raised money from Japanese investors o Found plot of land on river o Built a now standing Glove theatre Used period building techniques o Instead of using nail carved out wooden pegs and used those accurate completed o Found different ways to make building historically Sam Wannamaker died before the building was finally Zoe Wanamaker took over to make sure it was completed e William Shakespeare Playwright and Poet English National Poet Marker of the renaissance Personal History is a mystery o No birth records exist not uncommon o Baptism record o Marriage record o Birth record for 3 children he had o Lots of gaps in person history o Wonder if he actually all the plays he was credited for Acted managed invested o Invested money in property o Gave Shakespeare annual income that allowed him not physically go out and work and gave him time to write plays Wrote 37 38 full length plays and also wrote sonnets Most well known playwright Top 10 British Playwrights of all time Only wrote 4 full length plays in 6 years o Dr Faustus 1592 o Plays influenced Shakespeare o Without Marlow probably no Shakespeare o All plays directly in response to Marlow s writings Marlow was Killed when he was only 29 years old f Christopher Marlow Suspicious death when people were arguing about a spy for the crown Supposedly got into argument in the bar about a bill and Marlow got stabbed in the eye with a dagger 4 spectacular examples of what was happening in the renaissance Pioneered many writing types g Thomas Kyd 1558 1594 Spanish Tragedy h John Webster 1580 1634 The dutchess of Malfi 4 How has the Renaissance influenced modern theatre a Modern Traditional Shakespeare Recreates historically accurate performances Few if any modernizations Kenneth s Othello o Lauren Fishburne as Othello Stayed the same just a few modernizations Updated Othello movie called O o Julia Styles o Makes Othello modern o Basketball player o Takes Othello s plot and modernizes it by making it a modern day example and then makes it relatable to modern world The Reduced Shakespeare Company o Parody o Condenses all of Shakespeare s plays and makes it quick and a comedy type thing o Turned the plot into a rap to