Renaissance Italy

Led to theatrical conventions that would eventually displace those of

Shakespeare’s theatre and dominate Western theatrical practices until the

19th Century

• In the early 16th century, plays imitating classical forms began to be written in Italian

• To present such plays was considered a mark of a ruler’s cultural enlightenment

• Theatrical entertainments soon became standard features of court festivals given to celebrate betrothals, weddings, births of royal children, visits of emissaries from other states, etc.

• The Italians were trying to replicate the practices of the Romans but in doing so, created a new radical scenic practice that would dominate the European theatre into the 20th century

• The principles of perspective drawing was developed in the 15th Century

Scenic Practices

• The principles of Perspective were so important that eventually they had been adapted to the stage

• This is important because it signaled a movement away from the formal and architectural stage toward the representational and pictorial stage

Scenic Practices

• What does that mean to be representational?

• Represents a SPECIFIC place

• No longer a standard façade that represented all places

The side wings, backdrops and overhead borders were drawn as seen from a fixed viewpoint (originally the seat of the ruler)

The floor of the stage raked upwards towards the back

Scenic Practices

Goal was to create a convincing picture

Proscenium arch-came about so as not to ruin the perspective (audience could not see around or above the setting to achieve perspective) At first, the arch was a part of the scenery but eventually became a part of the permanent architecture of the theatre

Oldest permanent proscenium-Teatro Farnese built in 1618 in Parma, Italy

The prosc soon became a standard feature of theatres and remained so

until recently; even today, the picture-frame stage is the most common type

• With a single setting, they had to come up with ways to move from one locale to another:

• They used 2-D wings set up parallel to the front of the stage (one per location), one would be pulled offstage to reveal the one directly behind it

Scenic Practices

• Until the 19th century, scene changes were made in full view of the audience

From Intermezzi to Opera

• Intermezzi- “interludes” between the regular acts, were elaborate, had many special effects, music, song and dance

• These intermezzi eventually evolved into the Opera form in the 1590’s

• Opera soon became a popular form

• By 1637 there were 4 public opera houses in Venice

Opera Houses: a reinforcement of class structure

• Gallery-cheapest seats for working class people

• Boxes: upper class could be private

• Divided so that people could attend the theatre without having to intermingle with other classes

• The pit

Commedia Dell’Arte• Comedy of Professional Artists• By 1600, commedia troupes were traveling all

over Europe• They could play almost anywhere• Because the actor was most important, they

would work with elaborate sets if available but could function with almost nothing• The script was a scenario. The actors improvised

all the dialogue and fleshed out the action. The details differed from performance to performance

Commedia Dell’Arte• An actor played the same character with its

standard attributes and costume• Therefore performers became very familiar

with their characters• This facilitated improvisation• Performers made everything up as they went

along• Lazzi-comic business• Would be indicated in the script generally as lazzi

of fear or fight lazzi• For improvisation to work performers had to keep in mind

where the scene was headed to make the plot work as a whole

Commedia Dell’Arte• Actors who played the young fashionable men

and women kept notebooks where they kept track of popular poetry, literature, sayings, etc.

• Stock Characters-commonly known character based on stereotypes:

• Lovers• masters• servants

Commedia Dell’ArteLovers• Were the most realistic• Young and handsome• Did not wear masks and

dressed in the latest fashions• Each company had at

least one pair of lovers, most had two

• Children of the masters• Love affair was opposed by the

parents and aided by the servants

Commedia Dell’ArteMasters-• Most common were Pantalone, Dottore and Capitano

• Pantalone-elderly Venetian merchant

• Dottore, usually P’s friend or rival was a lawyer or doctor who loved to show off his learning

• Capitano-a braggart and coward who boasted of his prowess in love and war only to be discredited

Commedia Dell’ArteZanni-the servants• Were the most varied• Most companies had 2-one

clever and one stupid• Their actions kept the

plots moving as they sought to help or thwart their masters

• Harlequin became the most popular

• He was an acrobat and dancer• The British puppet character Punch

comes from Harlequin

Commedia Dell’Arte• Most companies were organized on the sharing

plan, although younger actors and assistants may have been salaried

• Most traveled frequently, although some were able to settle down• Commedia was most popular 1575-1650• The Servant of Two Masters by Goldoni comes

from the last days of Commedia, and is the closest commedia experience we have today, although it is scripted

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10JbRd-VxzQ

Now for the French…

• Instability in the 16th and 17th centuries interrupted development of the theatre until:

• 1625-Cardinal Richeliieu, Louis XIII’s prime minister, having secured absolute power for the king, set out to make France the cultural center of Europe

• He advocated the adoption of the proscenium stage and perspective scenery

• Also advocated that drama adhere to theoretical principles (would later be called the neoclassical ideal)

Neoclassical Ideals:

• Genres should be tragedy and comedy and should not be mixed

• Tragedy should treat royalty and nobles; comedy should treat middle and lower classes

• Characters should behave in a manner appropriate to their social status, gender and ethnicity (decorum)

• All plays should be written in five acts• All plays should observe the unities of time, place

and action• The wicked must be punished and the good rewarded

Neoclassicists believed that the purpose of all drama is to teach

and to please

What Drama SHOULD be…upholding the status quo

• Most popular play written in France• Le Cid was written by Pierre Corneille in 1636

• Play was viciously attacked because it failed to adhere to some of the neoclassical rules

• Richelieu sent it to the French Academy (40 most eminent literary figures of the day)

• The academy faulted its deviation from the rules• This ruling is important because it legitimized the

neoclassical view• Corneille then adopted the new mode which was

later perfected by Jean Racine (Phaedra)

Moliere• Moliere set the standard for Comedy• Learned most from Commedia• Just like Shakespeare, was involved in every

aspect of his theatre: actor, playwright, manager• Wrote Tartuffe-criticized those who acted as

“spiritual police” while seeking pleasures for themselves in private

• Was banned by Louis XIV in 1664. New version was banned by in 1667. The archbishop of Paris threatened to excommunicate anyone who recited or performed the play in public or private• By 1669, the opposition was mostly gone

17th Century French Theatre• Acting companies had a lot in common with the

Elizabethan • Organized on the Sharing Plan• 10-15 actors with hired assistants, stage hands,

musicians and actors

• Major Difference: French companies included women, who had equal rights with the men and received comparable pay

• All the leading companies in Paris received a subsidy from the crown

• Active rep of 50 or more plays

Actors

• By the 18th century, they were hired by their type and played those roles throughout their career

• A new actor learned the role from the person they were understudying or replacing so roles came to be played in a traditional manner handed down from one generation to the next

• Actors furnished their own costumes

• Females dressed in the fashions of the day

• Casting was simple because each actor played a limited range of roles

Lighting, Sets and Seating• Stage was Lit by chandeliers, footlights and lamps

• Audience was also lit which encouraged interaction• Sets were generalized. Only props used were tables,

chairs and beds• Audiences could sit on the stage for an extra fee-

became very fashionable

• By the 18th Century, although there were still obvious differences among the theatres of various European countries, they shared the same basic conventions. The theatre had made the transition from festival offerings to professional, secular entertainment