Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
theatre in the elizabethan era
theatre in the elizabethan era
characterise shakespeares plays short topic
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: theatre in the elizabethan era
Within this essay I will be comparing and contrasting the changes that have occurred between Elizabethan Theatre to theatre of today’s society, in particular drawing attention toward American theatre and its first existence. I will give specific examples, such as’Tis Pity She’s A Whore’ a play by John Ford, with regards to Elizabethan Theatre in comparison with the works within Broadway, and how particular playwrights, such as Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, helped to ground the movement that is American theatre. Within both theatre movements I will show how they reflect the society and culture in which they were birthed from.
The birth of Elizabethan Theatre came about when a group of travelling actors would move from one town to the next, however travelling was restricted and required a licence; as the actors were unable to travel, the nobles of England were granted licences to form troupes of players. This is where Elizabethan actors became apparent. These troupes of travelling actors would have had no choice but to perform to audiences within courtyards of inns; there was never a permanent venue, therefore temporary stages would have been erected and moved from one place to the next. It wasn’t until 1576 that the first theatre was built by entrepreneur James Burbage, who noticed the growth within the popularity of plays. The Burbage family also ran the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, who used it from 1594 to 1596. The other main theatre company at the time was The Admiral’s Men, which was back by Philip Henslowe, and initially headed by the actor Edward Alleyn.
American theatre began towards the end of the 18th Century, The first play was performed by a fully professional theatre company in September 1752, the play was perfor...
... middle of paper ...
...ple from all over the world have come to see, in being this it keeps it’s status of the upmost priority with regards to the entertainment sector of today’s generation. A lot of the work which we see now on broadway is that of an original kind, created by american playwrights, and directors; yet we must not forget the origins of its existence. Elizabethan theatre created a pathway for America to create a strong money grossing theatre land. To some extent I agree with what is being shown on broadway, yet why should we forget the past, shouldn't this be something to keep in memory of how far theatre in the US has come. Initiating past plays by historical figures such as William Shakespeare would educate the new generations of the past, yet what was in the past should never be left there, instead continued through alongside new developments for the generations to come.
Eighteenth century British theatre was perhaps the starting point that would evolve into modern theatre. Women started to be allowed on stage and acting techniques were beginning to change. Leading performers were like celebrities with a number of fans. Theatre was an intricate part of the social ladder. In the overall scheme of things the actors and actresses played an important part in making the theatre what it was. Without the performers there wouldn’t really be theatre, so in order to understand the eighteenth century British theatre the performers of that era need to be understood.
Have you ever met someone so good, yet they are evil to everyone around you? In the 21st century, the musical Wicked became a popular hit. With the tragic wars, disease, and new presidencies making history in the United States, theatre has always been an escape. Theatre has grown from audiences helping make it such a success. 21st century plays, specifically Wicked, were greatly impacted by the changes going on in the United States.
Bordman, Gerald, ed. The American Theater:A Chronical of Comedy and Drama1930-1969. Oxford University Press, 1996.
"Elizabethan Theatre Audiences." Elizabethan Theatre Audiences. Strayer University, 16 May 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
... Clarendon Press M.CMXXIII This was useful in giving in depth information on playhouses and acting companies. Somerset, Anne Elizabeth I, St. Martin's Press New York 1992 Elizabeth I was useful in giving me information on the Queen, her empire, and how she helped the theaterical development in England. Hillebrand, Newcomb Harold The Child Actor, Russell & Russell, New York 1964 This was helpful in giving me general backgound on boy companies. McMillin, Scott and MacLean, Sally-Beth, The Queen's Men and their Plays, Cambridge University Press 1998 This book was intramental in giving me information on the Queen's Men. I have also retrieved a lot of information online http:/www.eb.com Elizabeth I Encyclopedia Britannica Online Shakespeare, William Encyclopedia Britannica Online The Theater, Encyclopedia Britannica Online Theater History, Encyclopedia Britannica Online
Here we run up against the bugbear of historically informed performance. So many of the treatises (in music and dance as well as in acting) depend on the student's imitation of an admired master, and a gradual perfection of "good taste" as his society constructed that elusive quality. We cannot recreate those apprenticeships, those saturations in a period aesthetic. However, by constructing exercises along the lines of a Renaissance aesthetic, we may expose some of the differences between what the Shakespearean audience saw, and what the North American audience sees today.
Russell Brown, J. 1995. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Theatre. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Elizabethan times in the 1600s was a progression for the world of the theater. A period named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, it is from this period that modern day society has its foundation for the entertainment industry. From the violence that was prevalent because of the Black Death, people turned to the theater for its poetry and romance. During this time period, there were two types of theatrical performances that were available for the people’s viewing, comedies or tragedies. These two genres were never really intertwined until the time of William Shakespeare. His play, Romeo and Juliet, is an example of both a comedy and a tragedy. It starts off as a comedy with Romeo weeping like a baby because of his love Rosaline, who did not love him back and ends as a tragedy when Romeo and Juliet, a pair of star crossed lovers, commit suicide because the lost of each other. It was also during Shakespeare’s time that writer were finally acknowledged by the people. Before this time, writers were not considered upper classman. Another group of people that began to rise into a higher social class were the actors. Actresses were not present back then because women were not allowed on stage. It was considered unladylike to have a female actor. Men played all the parts. Theater owners were dependent on actors to make them a profit. Rehearsals for the plays were fairly short, only lasting for about a week. The performances themselves would only show for three to four days.
This is how Shakespeare’s plays are a product of the Elizabethan theatrical context in which they were first performed.
William Shakespeare and the new millennium seem to be diametrically opposed, yet his works are having a renaissance of their own after 400 years in the public domain. Why have some major film producers revisited his works when their language and staging would seem to be hopelessly outdated in our society?Perhaps because unlike modern writers, who struggle with political correctness, Shakespeare speaks his mind with an uncompromising directness that has kept its relevance in this otherwise jaded world.
Greek and Elizabethan theatre, while similar in some respects, had a few large differences. The Greeks believed in a certain unity of theme, which was prevalent throughout the production. Greek plays were often drawn from myth or of historical significance, so it seems that only ki...
Bold new practices were put in motion. Rather than proceeding cautiously, to avoid upsetting Parliament or religious groups, playwrights embraced controversial, even scandalous topics, rewriting practices, challenging social taboos and even pushing past boundaries set down by the Elizabethans. It was soon clear that, like the new king, Charles II, Restoration theater would have a taste for bawdy comedy, an eye for beauty and a willingness to take risks and invite public disapproval.
Theatre will always survive in our changing society. It provides us with a mirror of the society within which we live, and where conflicts we experience are acted out on stage before us. It provides us with characters with which we identify with. The audience observes the emotions and actions as they happen and share the experience with the characters in real time.
Over the past 250 years, America as a nation has evolved. Its beliefs, customs, and citizens have undergone changes with the times. It seems only natural, then, that its drama would also evolve. American drama of the 20th century was far removed from that of the 18th century. The differences are stark and many, and to fully appreciate what American drama is today, it helps to know where it came from. The evolution of American drama, from its earliest form to the modern works of Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller, can be traced through three plays from the 18th and 19th centuries. By studying Thomas Godfrey’s The Prince of Parthia, Royall Tyler’s The Contrast, and James A. Herne’s Margaret Fleming, the evolution of American drama can be seen through the development of plot, character, language, and setting, each of which bring us closer to the naturalism that is prevalent in modern American drama.
Shakespeare got much recognition in his own time, but in the 17th century, poets and authors began to consider him as the supreme dramatist and poet of all times of the English language. In fact, even today, no one can match his works or perform as well as he did. No other plays have been performed as many times as Shakespeare’s. Several critics of theatre try to focus on the language of Shakespeare and to take out excerpts from the literary text and make it their own resulting in various persons, poets, authors, psychoanalysts, psychologists and philosophers.