Arts

• Medieval Theater


  Catholic Church declared that theaters were sinful
• Liturgical Dramas


  • Plays based on the stories from the Bible or told of the lives of the saints
• Most of the playwrights or authors of the medieval plays were unknown
• Medieval Theater


  Performed during church services and were staged on a platform at the side of the altar
• Mansions


  • Public and staged in movable mansions
  • Pageant Wagons set up in the plazas
• Renaissance Theater


  Rebirth of the interest in the ancient Greek and Roman culture and arts
• Renaissance Theater developed differently in various countries in Europe
• Renaissance Theater


  • More humanistic, tackled issues of morality and the battle between good and evil
• Historical Drama


  Focused on historical figures and events, became a full-time career for many
• Historical Drama


  • Emergence of new role - DIRECTOR
• Italian Renaissance Theater


  • Masques - entertainment made for the nobility and wealthy
  • Theater performances included poetry, music, and dances
  • Produced comedies, tragedies, pastorals, and intermezzi
• Comedies & Tragedies


  Comedies focused on ordinary life while Tragedies focused on the heroism of the character
• Pastorals


  Plays that focused on love and romance in a country setting
• Intermezzi


  The public version of the court masques, based on mythology and used a lot of symbolism
• Street Theater


  Popular form of theater for the masses, performed in Commedia dell'arte
• Italian Renaissance Theater Design


  • Development of the proscenium arch, a frame around the stage that helped in covering up equipment and other stage utilities from the view of the audience
• English Renaissance Theater


  • Focused on human existence and nature
• Public Theater


  • Performed comedies, tragedies, history plays, and domestic and the city plays that depicted the everyday lives of the people
• Private Theater


  • For the nobility and by invitation only, Italian intermezzi and pastoral plays
• Christopher Marlowe


  Wrote the play "Doctor Faustus", about a man who sold his soul to the devil to gain knowledge
• William Shakespeare


  A master in expressing emotion in writing, wrote around 38 plays in his lifetime
• William Shakespeare's Plays

  • Tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Julius Caesar, and comedies like A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado about Nothing, and The Merchant of Venice
• English Renaissance Theater Design


  • Public theaters were found outside the city limits of London, permanent theaters were constructed throughout England starting at the end of the sixteenth century
• Renaissance Actors, Costumes, and Props

  • Backdrop and stage design were often simple, props used were just furniture pieces, lighting was dependent on the natural light or torches, costumes used were often bright and colorful, female roles were usually played by young men in women's clothes