Theatre History

• French Renaissance:

  • Came to France relatively late (ca. 1600 C.E.) due to religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants
  • France adopted conventions of the Renaissance from other countries, mostly Italy
  • King Louis XIV ("the Sun King") inspired a new lavish way of dressing for men with wigs, heels, and makeup
• Three types of theaters during the French Renaissance:

  • Temporary theaters (saw horses, boards, and curtains)
  • Tennis court theaters
  • Permanent theaters
  • Women were permitted onstage, usually married to one of the actors in the company
  • Actors had to renounce their profession before they died to be buried on Christian soil
  • Theatre companies gave a large sum of money to the family of deceased actors (precursor to life insurance)
  • Wealthy audience members sat on the stage and arrived late to be seen, leading to progressively later start times (5:00 p.m.)
• French Neoclassicism:

  • Subset of the Renaissance, focusing on a rediscovery and revival of classical Greek and Roman culture
  • Followed five classical ideals/rules: Genre, Verisimilitude, The Three Unities (Time, Place, Action), Decorum, and Purpose
• French Neoclassicism ideals:

  • Verisimilitude: the appearance of truth, true-to-life
  • The Three Unities:
  • Time: one day
  • Place: one setting
  • Action: one central story
  • Decorum: appropriate dramatic behavior and fair play
  • Purpose: to entertain with a moral
• • "Purpose": Principles were an attempt to define the world that playwrights should seek to mirror
• French Neoclassicism principles:

  • "Reality": Believability, no fantasy or supernatural events, no soliloquies
  • "Morality": Drama must teach moral lessons, wickedness is punished and good is rewarded
  • "Universality": Interested in the typical/standard traits that are discoverable through rational examination, truth remains unchanged regardless of historical period or geographical location
  • "Decorum": Established norms for all humanity according to age, rank, gender, profession, predispositions, etc.
• Significant Playwrights of French Drama:

  • Pierre Corneille: Most prolific playwright of the French Neoclassical period, known for plays like "Melite" and "Le Cid"
  • Jean Racine: Overshadowed Pierre Corneille, known for works like "Andromaque," "Iphigenie," and "Phedre"
  • Jean Baptiste Poquelin is the brithname of Moliere: Known for works like "The School for Wives," "Tartuffe," and "The Misanthrope"
• French Neoclassical Technical Practices:

  • Dramatic, elaborate, and rich
  • Verisimilitude dictated a realistic depiction of depth and perception
  • Perspective backdrop painting adopted from Italian designers
  • Costumes were realistic, yet slightly embellished
  • Proscenium theaters were the norm
• Gotthold Ephraim Lessing wrote the ground work for Medea
• Germany didn't have a lot of autonomy in terms of creating its own genre for quite a while.

  So they're like heavily on the trend of Spain, France, and England.
• Gotthold Ephraim lessing from 1729 to 1781, this person is what we consider the first significant German dramatist.
• Nathan The Wise wrote a dramatic peom in written blank verse and lambic pentameter without rhyme.
• "sturm und Drang" = storm and stress
• Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe was considered a universal, he also start first from of table work, corrected line reading and interpretations, and the first from of stage picture as well as blocking
• Goethe directing philosophies included: serving the script, historical accuracy of sets, costumes, and props, Acting ensembles (No Stars), extensive rehearsal that were 5-6 hours per day for several months and full out every day
• Neoclassicism ideals are Verisimilitude, three unites, purpose, decorum, Genre, and purpose
• Malapropism - Our watch sir. We have comprehended two auspicious persons."
• puns - I've been to the dentisit, so I know the drill."
• what kind of theatres were the norm during the french Neoclassicism period - proscenium theatres
• Renn. mean Rebrith
• While recovering from the war france adopt convension from Italy
• The three main type of theatre in the french Neoclassicism - Tennis court, premant, and temperary
• in the common wealth period short plays were condend from longer works - Drolls
• who received a patent to build from king charles to open the company - Sir Willaim Davenant
• who started start the king company - thomas malthus
• king charles the second was in favor of female performer - true
• elebrate set were bulit during - false
• Germany the writer of the pamphlet was a supporter of comedy - false
• what are some componetent of the comedy of manner - puns, witty dialouage, dogberryism, sexy explicit comedy
• Aphra Behn - first female playwright
• cockholding mean a partner cheating
• Green base carpet was used to allow the actor to fall on ground to not mess up their outfits when they died
• who wrote the homburg dramaturgy and is consider the dramatury Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
• Gotthold Ephraim Lessing loved Neoclassism - false
• Romantatism focuse on themes of nature, legands and pastroial life - ture
• sturm and drang were not produced very often because the production killed babies
• leading the voice of that german and romanasim and advocated that theatre should transfrom lives - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe