What were the theatres or ‘playhouses’ of Shakespeare’s time like and how were plays staged in them?
In William Shakespeare's time a stage wasn't just one type of area that plays had to be very different, The same play may be performed in a outdoor playhouses, an indoor theatre , a royal palace or area of noble wealth, for a company on tour , the courtyard of an inn, even though it was a different location the plays still stayed with the key ideas of theses stories that William Shakespeare found from his life and ended up making them into his own.
Private play houses
These were the types of Play houses that the rich, noble people and people of the royal family would come to, so they could come and watch one of William Shakespeare world famous plays come to life right in front of their very eyes. Most of the plays in the private play houses were performed in the theatrical configuration of Thrust, however, the seating in the theatre was more restricted compared to a public play house because only the really wealth sat on the sides of the stage in their own private booths. The stage was about half the size of a public play house theatres stage.
Public play house
Theses Public play houses would normally be performed outside in the cold for the people of lower class/ working class of the Elizabethan era. Most of the plays in the public play houses were performed in the theatrical configuration of Thrust.There was not really any rules in this types of theatre because i was seen as lower in class environment, therefore, people use to eat and drink while watching the performance and since it was a little pit people use to go to the toilet in the seating area as well, in addition to this people use to fornicate in
theses environments as well without any one saying anything because it would of been seen as a natural thing to happen. The stage was about double the size of a private play house theatres stage.
The first Playhouse theatre was called The Red Lion and it was first built in 1567 by a man called John Brayne and with help from his bother in law "James Burbag". The Red Lion theatre was first a Inn outside the city walls before they converted the Inn into a theatre, Since it was built so long ago there is true little evidence of how successful the theatre was, on the other hand, It must been on high demand because It was known to be a famous due to the plays of William Shakespeare and many more playhouse were starting to open up between the 1570s and 1620s.
The theatres of the Elizabethan period changed a lot throughout William Shakespeare lifetime because the authorities didn't like what Theatre was about and didn't allow theatre to happen in the city itself. They believed that Theatre and the arts had a very bad influence on the people and they believed it restricted them from going to church. On the other hand the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth loved actin and the arts, therefore, she helped the theatres become famous but some people in England didn't agree with the queens views and acceptance of the theatre and the arts. As the years went on more and more theatres became popular as they emerged outside the city walls of London ,nevertheless, outside the city walls of London was seen to be an unsafe and dangerous area to be around because of crime and prostitution was constantly around because there was not really any police or Secretary to protect people around those areas.
William Shakespeare theatres were full of joy, laughter and life because there wasn't really any rules in this place of theatre and performance, therefore, people didn't sit around that much they stood up for the whole performance, moreover, it was not a quiet atmosphere to be apart of because the audience members, rich and poor could move around the sitting areas,eat, drink and do what ever they truly wanted to do during the play. They cheered if they like the play, they booed if they didn't like they play and they even threw objects at the performers. William Shakespeare outdoor theatres were so much bigger than his indoor theatres because they had more space to do things for the theatrical environment, for example, outdoor theatres usually had a big stage than indoor theatres did, therefore, they also had a bigger capacity of thousands of audience members at the theatre, compared to indoor theatres that would of just had around 500 people watching.
The audience members that came to the indoor theatres were seen to be the more educated and richer people of England compared to the outdoor playhouse theatre. People believed that indoor theatres plays had more music, sparkly props such as jewels and pearls because they were supported by the rich and nobility because they were the people that came there once a week every week because that would be the only time to be able to watch a play, in addition to more jewels, these playhouses had way more speech that action because the audiences were smart enough to understand what was going on because almost everyone in the audiences would have had the money to go to school and wouldn't of had to start working by the age of 13/14 years old.
Who were the actors of Shakespeare’s plays and how did the experience of being an actor differ from the experience today?
Theses Public play houses would normally be performed outside in the cold for the people of lower class/ working class of the Elizabethan era. Most of the plays in the public play houses were performed in the theatrical configuration of Thrust.There was not really any rules in this types of theatre because i was seen as lower in class environment, therefore, people use to eat and drink while watching the performance and since it was a little pit people use to go to the toilet in the seating area as well, in addition to this people use to fornicate in
theses environments as well without any one saying anything because it would of been seen as a natural thing to happen. The stage was about double the size of a private play house theatres stage.
theses environments as well without any one saying anything because it would of been seen as a natural thing to happen. The stage was about double the size of a private play house theatres stage.
The first Playhouse theatre was called The Red Lion and it was first built in 1567 by a man called John Brayne and with help from his bother in law "James Burbag". The Red Lion theatre was first a Inn outside the city walls before they converted the Inn into a theatre, Since it was built so long ago there is true little evidence of how successful the theatre was, on the other hand, It must been on high demand because It was known to be a famous due to the plays of William Shakespeare and many more playhouse were starting to open up between the 1570s and 1620s.
William Shakespeare theatres were full of joy, laughter and life because there wasn't really any rules in this place of theatre and performance, therefore, people didn't sit around that much they stood up for the whole performance, moreover, it was not a quiet atmosphere to be apart of because the audience members, rich and poor could move around the sitting areas,eat, drink and do what ever they truly wanted to do during the play. They cheered if they like the play, they booed if they didn't like they play and they even threw objects at the performers. William Shakespeare outdoor theatres were so much bigger than his indoor theatres because they had more space to do things for the theatrical environment, for example, outdoor theatres usually had a big stage than indoor theatres did, therefore, they also had a bigger capacity of thousands of audience members at the theatre, compared to indoor theatres that would of just had around 500 people watching.
The audience members that came to the indoor theatres were seen to be the more educated and richer people of England compared to the outdoor playhouse theatre. People believed that indoor theatres plays had more music, sparkly props such as jewels and pearls because they were supported by the rich and nobility because they were the people that came there once a week every week because that would be the only time to be able to watch a play, in addition to more jewels, these playhouses had way more speech that action because the audiences were smart enough to understand what was going on because almost everyone in the audiences would have had the money to go to school and wouldn't of had to start working by the age of 13/14 years old.
Who were the actors of Shakespeare’s plays and how did the experience of being an actor differ from the experience today?
Research fact sheet: http://www.folger.edu/Content/Discover-Shakespeare/Shakespeares-Theater/
Used the Globe’s fact sheets
The actors in William Shakespeare's plays were always played by men because in this time period they believed that men were the only ones that could enjoy or portray true characters, therefore, only the men were the actors of the Elizabethan period of England. Even if their were women in one of William Shakespeare plays, they would of been played as men, for example, in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet maid was played by a man and this added to the comical side of the character, this was done because they lived in a very patriarchal society.
The actors in this era didn't really care for historically accuracy concerning their costumes, unless, they were acting as a Roman in a Roman play, they would have wore A toga to show the tradition within the Romans clothing and if it was a normal modern style play of the era , they would have worn gorgeous modern outfits, especially for the leading parts of the actors. In addition to this even if costume was worn , it was usually second hand clothes once owned and worn by real life noble people of that era.
Being an actor in modern day society is seen more respectful and appreciated in this modern day era compare to the Elizabethan period actors like because people see the theatre to be a more respectable play to be in, in this modern day age, for example, people usually don"t bring food in to the theatre, even though some food and drink is sold during the intermission of some plays, in comparison to this, actors in the Elizabethan era were not respected by the audience for their art and skills that were shown on the stage, instead, they were attacked and couldn't do anything bout it because they had to remain in role as a true actor, however, some actors did come out of character to abuse the audience member's for what they do throughout the performance and some actors abused the audience in characters as well because they didn't want to break role.
In this Shakespearean time period the entrances and exits of the actors were in plain sight of the audiences members , therefore, the audience members could constantly see the actors entering and exiting from the stage, moreover, if the actor was looking at lines before entering the stage , there was no way to hide it because the audience could see everything from where they were sitting or standing because there was no Flats to hide the actors enters and exits throughout the show duration. Since the audience could see the actors standing there waiting for their ques of occurred, most stages in Incorporated some vertical entrances and exits into the theatre, for example, if relevant actors could enter from what would be seen as the heavens by entering from above the stage and entering from would could be seen as hell by entering or exiting the stage from below through a trapdoor in the middle of the stage.
The actors in William Shakespeare's plays were always played by men because in this time period they believed that men were the only ones that could enjoy or portray true characters, therefore, only the men were the actors of the Elizabethan period of England. Even if their were women in one of William Shakespeare plays, they would of been played as men, for example, in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet maid was played by a man and this added to the comical side of the character, this was done because they lived in a very patriarchal society.
The actors in this era didn't really care for historically accuracy concerning their costumes, unless, they were acting as a Roman in a Roman play, they would have wore A toga to show the tradition within the Romans clothing and if it was a normal modern style play of the era , they would have worn gorgeous modern outfits, especially for the leading parts of the actors. In addition to this even if costume was worn , it was usually second hand clothes once owned and worn by real life noble people of that era.
Being an actor in modern day society is seen more respectful and appreciated in this modern day era compare to the Elizabethan period actors like because people see the theatre to be a more respectable play to be in, in this modern day age, for example, people usually don"t bring food in to the theatre, even though some food and drink is sold during the intermission of some plays, in comparison to this, actors in the Elizabethan era were not respected by the audience for their art and skills that were shown on the stage, instead, they were attacked and couldn't do anything bout it because they had to remain in role as a true actor, however, some actors did come out of character to abuse the audience member's for what they do throughout the performance and some actors abused the audience in characters as well because they didn't want to break role.
In this Shakespearean time period the entrances and exits of the actors were in plain sight of the audiences members , therefore, the audience members could constantly see the actors entering and exiting from the stage, moreover, if the actor was looking at lines before entering the stage , there was no way to hide it because the audience could see everything from where they were sitting or standing because there was no Flats to hide the actors enters and exits throughout the show duration. Since the audience could see the actors standing there waiting for their ques of occurred, most stages in Incorporated some vertical entrances and exits into the theatre, for example, if relevant actors could enter from what would be seen as the heavens by entering from above the stage and entering from would could be seen as hell by entering or exiting the stage from below through a trapdoor in the middle of the stage.
No comments:
Post a Comment