The Renaissance and Shakespeare GHS

1. The Renaissance and Shakespeare GHS

2. Brief History Cultural movement that spanned the periods of the 14th through the 17th centuries It was not a uniform process. Not every country experienced the “Rebirth” at the same time. Renaissance started in Italy in the 1300’s. Learning focused on classical sources such as the Romans (Latin), Greeks, and Arabic and Hebrew texts.

3. Brief History Art accelerated in production and quality from the Medieval period. Important artists of the period= Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. A move toward Humanism and a desire to seek the “truth” about nature, God, and man. Christianity was not rejected; many works were devoted to it.

4. Reinfusion of ancient texts long forgotten, including Greek Christian works that would lead to the Protestant reformation. The period marked a period of Church reforms and eventually movements that would birth the American and French Revolutions.

5. Renaissance Drama By the 15th and 16th centuries, European nations had established their own native traditions, religious dramas and farces based on Greek and Roman plays. Drama of the Renaissance mirrored or reproduced classical themes.

6. Renaissance Drama Pastoral Drama In this convention the purity and simplicity of shepherd life is contrasted with the corruption and artificiality of the court or the city. Intermezzo Was a lighter, more comedic scene interpolated between more serious scenes. Opera Either comedic or serious, some dialogue but accompanied with music. Singing used to frame and enhance the action of the play.

7. The Opera Dates back to Florence, Italy in the late Sixteenth century (1500’s). The purpose that lead to creation of Opera was the need to understand Greek drama and how music was an integral part of drama. Even Gregorian chants of the Medieval period were a type of liturgical musical dramas, but the Opera looked to the classical period for its inspiration.

8. Opera It imitated Greek musical drama, and incorporated the chorus and actors together. For two hundred years, this art form accelerated. The libretto, scenery, costumes, dance, music, etc. saw vast improvements and expansion. Orchestration, vocal virtuosity etc. expanded the Opera to a high art form.

9. Examples Opera https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfyH-MZWMnQ Intermezzo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cap3qdSPRJw Pastoral https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cj0rly3JxY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCIx07t14jw&feature=related

10. Other aspects of Renaissance Drama and Theater For most Renaissance Drama and Theater, the interaction between audience and performer were the center. The plays and performances were meant to engage the audience in a different manner than we see today. Sometimes, it was difficult to distinguish the actor from the spectator. Yet, depending on location (country, etc.) the drama and theater experience would vary.

11. Other aspects of Renaissance Drama and Theater There was a desire to imitate classical Greek and Roman theater. The theaters were meant to resemble ancient Roman edifices. Wooden pillars would be painted to imitate marble, with even the trained eye having difficulty determining it was not real marble. This desire to imitate classical theater lead to the development of many play houses that had obvious Roman and Greek elements.

12. Other aspects of Renaissance Drama and Theater

13. Other aspects of Renaissance Drama and Theater

14. Example of a Modern Theater with Roman/Greek and Renaissance elements

15. Other aspects of Renaissance Drama and Theater Scripts were used, although they were not as important when compared to modern theater. They played minor role in a production. The spectacle of singing, dancing and the interaction between the audience and the performers took president. Renaissance theater would differ from country to country and region to region, but the basic elements were present. The rebirth of classical themes feed the art form and helped it to evolve into more modern forms of theater.

16. Other aspects of Renaissance Drama and Theater As stated before, plays were meant for entertainment, however. There were plays that had overtly political, religious, and patriotic themes that appealed to many audiences. Downsides were that those in power would often get “upset” by the plays that were meant to be “allegories” of the current political structure. Mystery, miracle and morality plays were still produced but their popularity waned.

17. Other aspects of Renaissance Drama and Theater Sometimes this period is referred to as the Early Modern period. The ideas of humanism and the search for man’s place in the world would inspire man great works of literature and drama during the entire Renaissance era. Some believe that the English Renaissance represents some of the best this era has to offer.

18. Other periods within the Renaissance Baroque Period started in the 1600’s It was a period that exaggerated artistic ideals It was a period of high art, drama and music that was supported by the Church and the Aristocracy This drama had multiple plot turns and a variety of situations. Baroque theater was a multimedia experience Much of the technology used in Broadway and commercial plays were invented and developed during this era.

19. Elizabethan Period The Elizabethan Period marked the beginning of the Renaissance in England It lasted 45 yrs, or the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The first English theater was The Red Lion. During this period all Arts blossomed, but Drama and Theater excelled like no other.

20. Elizabethan Period The Medieval Period had been primarily been a vehicle for religious and moral messages. The Elizabethan Period, including plays by Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe and others, marked a radical departure from this model.

21. Elizabethan Period The new plays presented colorful and complex characters, love, hate, jealousy, lust for power, and revenge. Under the rein of Queen Elizabeth I, it was a social unifying experience. It was a very popular form of entertainment: both common people and nobility alike enjoyed it as a pastime. However, the town officials and clergy considered it tawdry and actors as vagabonds.

22. Elizabethan Period Elizabethan theater was an interactive event. Audiences commonly talked back to the actors and even through fruit when displeased with performances. Women were not allowed to enter the profession, so men played all parts including female parts. Adolescent boys would play female parts.

23. Other aspects of Elizabethan Theater Acting companies functioned on the repertory system unlike modern productions that can run for months to years on end. Many plays would be performed for 2 to 3 days and then would close. Thomas Middleton’s A Game at Chess ran for 9 straight days before being closed by the authorities—due to overly political tone of the play.

24. Other aspects of Renaissance and Elizabethan theater Many of the public theater houses would perform plays 6 days a week The theater groups would not perform the same play two days in a row and rarely the same place twice a week. Costumes were often bright in color and visually entrancing. Costumes were very expensive so many actors would were contemporary clothing regardless of the era that play was supposed to be.

25. Other aspects of Renaissance and Elizabethan theater Scenery was minimal in many productions. Costumes would be recycled and used in many production before being discarded The lead characters would were the most elaborate costume while supporting characters would wear contemporary clothing. Language and the poetry of the plays were the centerpiece of a great production, so costumes would only be a smaller part of the entire production.

26. Other aspects of Renaissance and Elizabethan theater Tragedy=most popular Comedy=a common style City Comedy=a satirical look at life in London Pastoral and Morality plays still existed and often were popular alternatives to Tragedies and Comedies

27. Other aspects of Renaissance and Elizabethan theater After 1610, the new style of tragic-comedy become increasing popular, An the masque, a courtly form of entertainment that included music, dancing with elaborate staging and costumes. Masks were often a part of the presentation. Public masques were a pageant, a procession (like a parade) with both secular and religious rituals. Usually celebrating the ruler or the new ruler.

28. The Dumbshow It was a piece of dramatic mime The Dumbshow was a masque-like interlude of silent pantomime usually with allegorical content. Would be performed before the play, and would allude to the content the audience would see in the play.

29. Shakespeare Why do you think his works are important? Which works of his do you remember? Why should we study them?

30. Shakespeare’s Life His father, John Shakespeare, was successful in the leather business during Shakespeare's early childhood but later met with financial difficulties. During his prosperous years his father was also involved in municipal affairs, holding the offices of alderman and bailiff during the 1560s. While little is known of Shakespeare's boyhood, he probably attended the grammar school in Stratford, where he would have been educated in the classics, particularly Latin grammar and literature.

31. Shakespeare’s Life In 1594 Shakespeare became an actor and playwright for the Lord Chamberlain's Men, the company that later became the King's Men under James I. Until the end of his London career Shakespeare remained with the company; it is thought that as an actor he played old men's roles, such as the ghost in Hamlet and Old Adam in As You Like It.

32. Shakespeare’s Life In 1596 he obtained a coat of arms, and by 1597 he was prosperous enough to buy New Place in Stratford, which later was the home of his retirement years. In 1599 he became a partner in the ownership of the Globe theatre, and in 1608 he was part owner of the Blackfriars theater. Shakespeare retired and returned to Stratford c.1613. He undoubtedly enjoyed a comfortable living throughout his career and in retirement, although he was never a wealthy man.

33. Shakespeare’s Works Some of his Plays include: Romeo and Juliet, A Comedy of Errors, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, As You like it, just to name a few. Poetry: The Passionate Pilgrim, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and many sonnets.

34. Examples Hamlet To be or not to be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ks-NbCHUns Much Ado About Nothing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV66ODrTRG4