Medieval Theatre to Renaissance TheaterBy Mr. Healy

The Fall of Rome in Broad Strokes…

The Roman Empire had become to large to manage

Soon it split into small independently controlled states

After the fall of Rome Europe fell into the Dark Ages These were characterized by a shrinking

population, deurbanization, and an increase in the authority of the Holy Roman Church

Question What affect do you think an increase in

the power of the Catholic Church had?

Theater in the Middle Ages The Church labeled our Greek and

Roman originators Pagan, and therefore performances of this type were banned

They were instead replaced by Religious Ceremonies

In this way they were not so different from the Greeks

Move towards Morality Liturgical Drama: A dramatic form that

celebrates morality and the Christian Religion

Subjects were taken from the Bible and lives of the Saints

Mystery Play A type of liturgical drama Subject focused on some Miracle or

mystery from the Bible The scenes were not interconnected like

our plays today Instead the only unifying theme was

that they were about Christian faith

Mystery Plays Mechanical devices, trapdoors, and

other artifices were employed to portray flying angels, fire-spouting monsters, miraculous transformations, and graphic martyrdoms.

Mystery Plays Plots included: Creation, Adam and Eve, the

murder of Abel, and the Last Judgment. Plays were organized into Cycles Cycles: groups of 25 to 50 plays that took

days to performs In France a single play, The Acts of the

Apostles by Arnoul and Simon Gréban, contained 494 speaking parts and 61,908 lines of rhymed verse; it took 40 days to perform

Mystery Plays Eventually these plays took on

sacrilegious elements Furthermore, satirical elements were

introduced to mock physicians, soldiers, judges, and even monks and priests

Pope Innocent III banned them Because, you know, Popes didn’t like fun Renaissance scholars found little of

interest in their great rambling texts,

Bonus Word Satire: the use of humor, irony,

exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

Morality Plays Plays were forced out of the Church and into

the hands of guilds, or organized groups of artists

Allegorical play in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a Godly life over one of evil.

Allegory:a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Everyman The most famous Morality Play God Sentences Everyman to die He tries to find friends to help him show

God he deserves life in heaven Most of his “friends” abandon him

(Pride, Beauty, Five Wits, Strength and Discretion)

Good Deeds Good Deeds is the only one who does

not abandon Everyman, and goes with him to reckon with God

What do you think the Moral of this story is?

English Renaissance Theater At this time, England had broken away

from the Catholic Church The Renaissance has lead to a

rediscovery of Classical texts and ideas Theater emerges as a prime source of

entertainment in England for both commoners and Nobles alike

Transition to Secular Theater Secular: denoting attitudes, activities, or other

things that have no religious or spiritual basis. With the break from the Church, Nobles began

funding theater In the sixteenth century, the Elizabethan stage

became almost wholly professional and public Side note: Elizabethan is named after Queen

Elizabeth of England This means actors were now paid, and the

shows were available to everyone

MONEY $$$$$ The new theater groups devoted their

entire lives to the art and craft of play producing.

Likewise, the production of plays at this time was a good financial venture.

Patronage Groups swore patronage, or loyalty to,

a particular noble who financed them This protected them from harsh anti

theater laws which saw traveling theater troupes as vagabonds

As you can see, theater was still not universally respected as an art

Construction of Theaters Successful acting companies eventually

built their own performance venues Theaters sprung up in London Soon, However, theaters drew the ire of

the law and were forced out of the city limits

Still, theater was fashionable and profitable

Acting Acting Performances were “over the

top”

The actors expressed themselves in a highly operatic manner with flamboyant expressions

The Shows Themselves Plays did not attempt to persuade anyone

that they were not in a theater Very little scenery to add to illusion Only male actors played the parts Actors would break fourth wall and speak to

audience Costumes were huge and colorful They were also not historically accurate For example, in Shakespeare’s plays about

Roman subjects, actors did not wear togas

Video about theatre https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=z_cTCdkCAcc

Shakespeare (1564-1616) He was actor, writer, and part-owner of a

playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later The King’s Men

He never published his own work. His work was compiled by his friends and published in the First Folio.

Contemporary, Ben Johnson, famously said Shakespeare was “not of an age, but for all time”

Shakespeare Shakespeare: wrote 38 plays in 3 genres Tragedies Comedies History Plays

Plays were performed at The Globe, which burned down from a cannon fired during a production of Henry VIII

History Plays These plays dramatized figures from

Medieval English History

However, They were really about the politics and social situations of his own society

Audiences recognized and enjoyed this fact

Mini Biography https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=geev441vbMI

5 interesting facts about Shakespeare https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=hDRpEb7heG8

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) Came just before Shakespeare but yet less

famous in history Still very important in the study of

Renaissance drama He was one of the first people to write for a

living He created scathing social and political

commentary that was often sensational and violent

He Died in a Bar Fight

Marlowe https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=5CbWeIkgF-g

Dr. Faustus (1592) Faustus has learned all earthly

knowledge and now desires to know MAGIC

He summons the devil, Mephistopheles, who is Lucifer’s servant

Faustus sells his soul to Lucifer for 24 years with Meph as his servant

What do you all think happens next?

Dr. Faustus https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=wZeFGKA2MqQ

Quotes For, falling to a devilish exercise,

And glutted now with learning's golden gifts,He surfeits upon cursed necromancy.Nothing so sweet as magic is to him,Which he prefers before his chiefest bliss.

Quotes FAUSTUS

Was not that Lucifer an angel once?MEPHISTOPHELESYes Faustus, and most dearly loved of God.FAUSTUSHow comes it, then, that he is prince of devils?MEPHISTOPHELESO, by aspiring pride and insolence,For which God threw him from the face of heaven. (1.3.61-66)

Questions What was the central conflict of Dr.

Faustus?

Would you make the same deal as Dr.Faustus?

Is this a Christian Tragedy? Does it’s ending fit with Christian Ideals?

Questions? Is Dr. Faustus “a Renaissance man who

had to pay the medieval price for being one” like scholar R.M Dawkins said?

Think about what I have been saying about the Renaissance and people’s thirst for knowledge at that time

Dr. Faustus At the time Marlowe was writing, John

Calvin had developed a theory about human salvation called Predestination.

This theory said that each human being was fated from the beginning of his or her life to be damned or saved. It raised questions about exactly how much control a person had over his or her own salvation.

Dr. Faustus Doctor Faustus stood out from the crowd

by combining things we associate with medieval drama (like allegory) to explore what we now think of as modern questions: What form should knowledge take? What is the nature of true power? Should we believe in fate or free will?

Wasn’t a straight forward morality play

Elizabethan Theatre wrap up In 1642, with England on the verge of a

civil war, the Puritan Parliament closed all theaters

Stage plays were forbidden because they distracted the nation from its efforts to “appease and avert the wrath of God”

Theaters were not reopened for almost 20 years in 1660

During the Restoration Set designers added Scenery to add

the illusion of depth on the stage Others experimented with lighting using

chandeliers and candles around the stage

The lightheartedness of the plays reflected a society recovering from years of division and unrest

Restoration Comedies Restoration comedies involved quick wit Playwrights wrote Comedies of Manners,

which satirized the behaviors of society before and during the restoration period. Comedic plays relied on situational humor: disguises, mistaken identity, and misunderstandings

Restoration Comedy Most popular type of play Restoration comedies became social

commentaries; they were not a mirror of society, but rather exaggerations of society that the audience would recognize and appreciate.

in Restoration plays, women sometimes played the role of men as a form of situation comedy.

1st appearance of women!

Focus on the Upper Class Audiences were mainly upper class Therefore plays often had Upper Class

nobles and their courts as the focus

Focus on Love and sex Situational humor often involved sexual

themes such as adulterous husbands and flirtatious women

Sexual innuendo or jokes were big (That’s what she said)

Stock characters Plays included stock characters Stock Character: a fictional character

based on a common stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics.

Stock Characters Rake: a historic term applied to a man

who is habituated to immoral conduct, particularly womanising. Often a rake was also prodigal who wasted his (usually inherited) fortune on gambling, wine, women and song, incurring lavish debts in the process. Comparable terms are "libertine" and "debauchee".

The Fop He is a "man of fashion" who

overdresses, aspires to wit, and generally puts on airs, which may include aspiring to a higher social station than others think he has. He may be somewhat effeminate, although this rarely affects his pursuit of an heiress.

Top 10 job skills http://www.forbes.com/sites/

meghancasserly/2012/12/10/the-10-skills-that-will-get-you-a-job-in-2013/