THT - W4 Flashcards
MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN THEATER Staging
- Staging Wagons - sedes (Mansion - fixed structure - decorative booths) - platea (Place - nonlocalized playing space - actions) - Corpus Christi= Expansive and Novel Special Effects, everyday garments, animal face mask evil)
Medieval Theatre
- Loss of ‘organized’ theater
- Christian Church Increased influence
- Miracle Plays
- Mystery Plays
York cycle ‘’45 plays entire bible’’) - Morality Plays = Written to teach about god, relationship.
(E.g. everymen) - Around pagan festival
- Play Cycles
Renaissance & Early Modern Theatre
Major Political, Social, and Religious Changes
- Absolutism to revolutions and regicides
- Urbanization and the bourgeoisie
- Humanism & Protestantism
- New Worlds and the race for riches
Major Political, Social, and Religious Changes
- Absolutism to revolutions and regicides
- Urbanization and the bourgeoisie
- Humanism & Protestantism
- New Worlds and the race for riches
Renaissance & Early Modern Theatre
Professional Theatre (Early Modern)
(Institutionalization of THT)
- Private/ Public
- Acting Companies and Licensing
- Scenic Design
- Technical innovations
(Renaissance / Early Modern)
- Historically, associated with what is common or base
- Imitates / mirrors
- Relies on types and conventions
(e. g. Maria: Smarter than her mistress) - Does not necessarily provoke laughter
- Comedy = Conventional release of laughter
- What distances us of the play — Not always funny
- Carnival & carnivalesque
Elements of Comedy (Ren/ Early Mod)
- Plot
- Hero
- Set of lovers
- Romeo & Juliet = Comedy (Peace in the end)
- Parody of authority, tradition
- Presence of lovers
- Focus on the human body
Acting Company Lisencing
- Under the Court (Censored)
- Also Illegal theatre
Private vs Public Theatre
- Private: Homogeneous Attendance
- Public: Heterogeneous Attendance (Rich and Poor)
William Shakespeare
(Born, Marries, Employed, Famous, Died)
B: 1564
Marr: 1582
Empl: 1592 Chamberlain’s Men
Most FAMOUS
Died: 1616
Twelfth Night (Historical Element)
- Queen Elizabeth (virgin)
Early Modern refers to
the period between the Middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution.
Early Modern
- Mercantile economies
- New World explored and colonized
- Reformations in Church and State
- Mercantile economies
- New World explored and colonized
- Reformations in Church and State
Early Modern
The European Renaissance: Humanism and the Classical Past
- Rediscovery of Classical Values from Middle Ages.
- Printing press (spread of texts and commentaries)
- Arts MORE lifelike LESS medieval-flat
Patronage
Supported by Courtly Patronage.
William Shakespeare’s troupe (the Lord Chamberlain’s Men)
William Shakespeare’s troupe was supported by ___________
Courtly Patronage
Reformation and Counter-Reformation
Martin Luther vs Catholic Church
- faith alone leads to salvation. Not Money
divine right of kings (time)
late 16th C
Church - State
Professional THT (Globe Theatre in London)
- Public theaters
- Open-Air
- Stages extended into Audience
Commedia dell’arte
- Comedy of Profesional Artists (Private/ Public/ Courtly)
- Troupes Shared Economic Risks
- Churches Censorship
- Gov Control 1600s
Europe after the Roman Empire
Theatre Damned by Middle Ages Church
Medieval Theatre
Tropes
Early Church Drama
- Short biblical passages with music
Aside
Theatrical convention (before 19th C.) - Character, unnoticed, speaks directly to audience to express a thought.
