Pagan origins
Fertility rites mainly based on nature cycles: i.e. seasons
MAY POLE
Interest of the Church in pagan celebrations
From celebrations of spring
to celebration of Easter
Liturgical drama
Sung dialogue between the celebrants to commemorate great Christian events
in the nave of churches
From the nave to the church square
From latin to vernacular
No more priests as actors
13th 14th 15th cent.
Mystery or Miracle Plays
Actors: members of Trade Guilds
Stage: pageants
Morality Plays
Characters not from Bible, but personifications of Vices and Virtues
Everyman, after 1485
Main characters: Everyman, Death,Fellowship, Beauty, Strength, Worldly Goods, Kindred, Good Deeds
Interludes
End of 15th cent.
Combination of serious elements with more comic ones
Vice as a dramatic character
his dialogues rich with puns
Folk tales re-telling old stories, i.e. Robin Hood
Actors used to travel from town to town performing for their audiences in return for money and hospitality.
Authorities against actors, because beyond control
Actors classified as “vagabonds and beggars,” in a 1572 Act of Parliament
1492 America, Leonardo’s Last Supper1508, Michelangelo Sistine Chapel
1509-1547 Reign of Henry VIII
1534, Act of Supremacy
1558-1603 Reign of Elizabeth I
1576, The Theatre
timeline
1599, The Globe
1564-1616 W. Shakespeare
SOUTHWARK
The Globe
James Burbage
Lord Chamberlain’s Men
W. Shakespeare
The Rose
Philip Henslowe
Admiral’s Men
C. Marlowe
The Swan
Flags were erected on the day of the performance which sometimes displayed a picture advertising the next play to be performed.
Colour coding was also used
a black flag meant a tragedy
white a comedy
and red a history.
Elizabethan Advertising
Hell under stage
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