THAR 281 Lecture 5 Outline of Last Lecture Intro into Theatre History I II III IV Dithyramb Greek Medieval and Religious Drama Comedia Dell Arte Italian Renaissance 1400 1650 a Italians are moving forward imitating Greeks criticized drama moving away from medieval times V Neoclassical Ideals VI Innovations in Theatrical Architecture VII English Renaissance Theatre Outline of Current Lecture French Neoclassical Theatre I King Louis XIV a Palace of Versailles II Early French Theatre a Confrerie de la Passion b Hotel de Bourgogne c Italian Influence III French Neoclassicism a Cornielle Racine Moliere b French Acting c French Theatre i ii iii iv v Theatre du Marias Palais Royal Salle des Machines Comedie Francaise Court Festivals Current Lecture French Neoclassical Theatre King Louis XIV o Extravagant King of France the red heel shoe is attributed to him These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Palace of Versailles o Louis XIV s home o Giant very ornate and gold Early French Theatre o France isn t up to date in the improvements of theatre yet o Early 17th Century o French theatre has little in common with Italian theatre Medieval theatre practices religious narratives No scenic effects or proscenium arch Confrerie de la Passion o Confraternity of the Passion religious group that presented religious plays over a century o 1548 Hotel de Bourgogne the first permanent indoor theater in Paris o 1548 religious plays in Paris banned before the French could use the theatre These are really important things that paved the way for France into the present Hotel de Bourgogne o 1548 1st permanent indoor theatre in Paris Italian influence on French Theatre o Helped bring France into the theatre scene o Comedia dell arte o Court festivals Spectacle Pageantry Lacked characters plot Italian Influence in France o Catherine de Medici Catherine married Henry II of France she brought expectations of pageants and festivals Toured France and helped bring theatrical festivity to France o Cardinal Richelieu Good guy in terms of theatre realized France was behind brought over Italian architect s and created the French academy a group of writers who critiqued theatre using neoclassical rules academy exists today French Neoclassicism o 1636 o The French Academy 40 writers Dealt with arguments over criticism and dramatic theory Created by Cardinal Richelieu and exists today Peire Cornielle o Playwright known because he worked very hard to adhere to the neoclassical rules time place and action three unities Decorum acting appropriately and Verisimilitude believable true to life o Piere wrote comedy and tragedy most known for El Cid 1636 1637 interesting because the play doesn t follow neoclassical rules o Was elected to the French Academy in 1647 Le Cid A play about two young lovers young man kills his true love s father bad idea she is obliged to avenge her father and challenges him to a duel someone else fights for her and she thinks that her love is killed She confesses to the King in her anguish because she still loves him Her true love turns out to be only injured and the King allows them to marry Many were unhappy since it didn t follow neoclassicism Tragedy should end tragically not happy Goes against decorum the French academy debated play for several years finally concluding that the play had good stuff going for you but as far as the rules go it s not a good play Jean Racine Jean Racine wrote tragedies rhyming couplets adhered to Neoclassical form famous for Phaedra 1677 Phaedra a story of incest Basically play starts in middle of action Phaedra has fallen in love with her stepson hearing the king was killed in battle she confesses her love but it is unrequited Then a messenger comes and saying the king is alive and shortly after the King returns Phaedra afraid the stepson will tell of her confession lies to the king that the son came to her In anger the king kills his son In anguish Phaedra confesses what she did and kills herself Moliere Jean Baptist Poquelin 1622 1673 wrote Tartuffe He was a dramatist and actor Wrote farce a comedy to the extreme The majority of his comedy poked fun at aristocrats He wrote in couplets and broke some neoclassical rules Tartuffe for example Dorine the maid tells everyone what s on her mind As an actor in Moliere plays the voice of reason was always the servant character Founded Theatre Illustre 1643 Famous plays The Miser The Misanthrope The School for Husbands French Acting Companies had women sharing plan two levels of people Pensionnaires contracted out for small amount of time for certain shows Societaires people who held share within the company owning part of company and stock always employed by company Reparatory theatres had a lot of plays over time period not just one o French Actors and Audiences French acting styles not a lot of evidence for what it was like Not naturalistic Acting styles were over the top short rehearsal periods multiple roles playing and improve Influenced by Comedia slapstick acting physical Actors had to play over the crowd people came to theatre to be seen and watch the theater Audiences crowds were known for being out of control actors had to outdo the crowd Hard since normally crowd was drunk loud and obnoxious this was a constant Theatre du Marias o Built in 1634 almost a century after the Hotel de Bourgogne It was a converted indoor tennis court o Commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu originally called Palais Cardinal o It was the first proscenium arch theatre in France designed by Giacomo Torelli Giacomo Torelli the great wizard an architect hired to come to France and build the theatre with modern engineering The theatre featured Italian scene shifting machinery o The theatre accommodated 1500 people and the wealthy could purchase a seat on stage Salle des Machines o Hall of Machines giant theatre o Largest theatre in Europe at time Had every piece of modern machinery in it was too big to use Huge lift for that over 100 people could fit on extravagant and over the top o Built in honor of Louis XIV s marriage in 1660 o engineered by Gaspare Vigarani o rarely used after the 1670 s Court Festivals Very pageant like not much character or plot Basically if you were rich or royal they would throw you a court festival and add in characters to let the royal families take part in the festival Very ornate lots of spectacle