Renaissance Drama

Drama as Teacher: Religious Plays

Early plays evolved from church services, such as reenactments of Jesus resurrection, performed at Easter.

Drama moves out of the churches

In the 1300s and 1400s dramatizations of bible scenes were played out in town marketplaces. These plays often mixed drama and comedy. Several kinds of plays were written and produced before the Renaissance:
miracle and mystery plays moralities interludes

New Theaters
By the 16th century, drama in England was already three centuries old! New, permanent places to stage plays were built, but acting companies still performed in improvised spaces when they went on tour. In 1576, James Burbage, the father of Shakespeares partner Richard Burbage built the first public theater. He called it The Theater New theaters followed: the Curtain, the Rose, the Swan, the Red Bull, the Hope, and the Globe

The Globe: Shakespeares Wooden O

The Globe Theater

Room for 3,000 spectators Price of admission:
one penny - to stand in yard around stage (these were called the groundlings) two pennies - to sit in 2nd and 3rd floor galleries three pennies - to sit in the first floor galleries

The Stage
One third of the yard was filled with 6ft high platform No curtain No artificial lighting Back wall had at least two doors Balcony was used for hilltops, walls of cities, or second story scenes. Trapdoors were used to raise or lower actors and props.

Up Close and Personal

The actors were much closer to the stage than in theaters today. Every aspect of the performance affected the audience. Actors could sing, dance, wrestle, fence, clown, roar, weep and whisper. Audiences loved to see actors descend through the trapdoor into Hell or get whisked up into the rafters into Heaven.

Make-believe
The audiences used their imaginations to perceive reality on stage. Furniture was rolled out onstage to indicate an indoor scene. Lanterns would signal to the audience that action was taking place at night. When a forest scene was required, a few small bushes and trees might be set out onstage, then the actors spoke lines that evoked images in

Make-believe
Audiences at the Globe expected to take in a full spectacle. Quick costume changes could create the illusion of many more actors. Musicians in the gallery above the stage provided music to accompany performances.

William Shakespeare
1564-1616 Born in Stratford-on-Avon Left no letters, diaries or other private writing 37 plays and 154 sonnets Did not go to Oxford or Cambridge Married Anne Hathaway in 1582 Had three children Was an accomplished actor and

Shakespeares Plays
Richard III a chronicle of an evil historical English king Comedy of Errors A rowdy farce about mistaken identity Romeo and Juliet tragedy about two ill-fated lovers A Midsummer Nights Dream mystical, comedic fantasy play The Merchant of Venice tragic comedy about love and hatred

The Famous Tragedies

In the early 1600s, Shakespeare wrote his most famous tragedies. Plays concerned with evil, violence and death.

Hamlet Othello King Lear Macbeth Antony and Cleopatra

Shakespeares Epitaph:
Good Friend, for Jesus sake, forbear To dig the dust enclosed here; Blest be the man that spares these stones And curst be he that moves my bones.

Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy

Soliloquy and Aside

Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy

Soliloquy and Aside: A Soliloquy is a speech made by an actor alone on stage to let the audience know what is on that characters mind. An Aside is a characters remark to the audience or to another character that others on stage arent supposed to hear. The purpose of an aside is to reveal that characters thoughts.

Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy

Dramatic Irony This situation occurs when the audience is aware of the conditions that are unknown to the character on stage or when some of the characters are ignorant of what really is on the speakers mind

Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy

Blank Verse

Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy

Blank Verse Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter. Shakespeare wrote all of his plays in blank verse.

Hamlet
Principal conflict:
When the play begins, the old king Hamlet has been killed by his brother, Claudius, who now sits on the throne. Claudius has married the old king Hamlets wife, Gertrude. Young prince Hamlet (the son of the old king) is distraught over his fathers

Characters
Hamlet: Son of a murdered Danish king and nephew of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet suffers great mental anguish over the death of his father, the marriage of his mother to the suspected murderer.

Characters
Hamlet: Son of a murdered Danish king and nephew of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet suffers great mental anguish over the death of his father, the marriage of his mother to the suspected murderer. Claudius: The new King of Denmark, Hamlet's uncle. He killed Hamlets father, the old king, and married Gertrude.

Characters
Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, and widow of the murdered king. Her marriage to Claudius within two months after the late kings funeral deeply disturbs Hamlet.

Characters
Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, and widow of the murdered king. Her marriage to Claudius within two months after the late kings funeral deeply disturbs Hamlet. Polonius: Bootlicking Lord Chamberlain of King Claudius.

Characters
Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, and widow of the murdered king. Her marriage to Claudius within two months after the late kings funeral deeply disturbs Hamlet. Polonius: Bootlicking Lord Chamberlain of King Claudius. Ophelia: Daughter of Polonius. She loves Hamlet, but is deeply disturbed by his erratic behavior.

Characters
Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, and widow of the murdered king. Her marriage to Claudius within two months after the late kings funeral deeply disturbs Hamlet. Polonius: Bootlicking Lord Chamberlain of King Claudius. Ophelia: Daughter of Polonius. She loves Hamlet, but is deeply disturbed by his erratic behavior.
Horatio: Hamlets best friend. Horatio never wavers in his loyalty to Hamlet.

Characters
Laertes: Son of Polonius, brother of Ophelia. Rosencrantz, Guildenstern: Courtiers and friends of Hamlet who attended school with him. Players: Actors who arrive at Elsinore to offer an entertainment. Hamlet asks them to stage a drama called The Mouse-trap, about a throne- seeker who murders a king.

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