Theatre in the Dark Ages

1. Theatre in the Dark Ages • Why is it called the “dark ages”? • This is the time period after the fall of the Roman Empire and before the Renaissance. • From approximately 1000a.d. to 1400ad. • During this time most all people were illiterate. • The “church” was in control. • The “church” at this time was the Christian Church, the Catholic Church. • Theatre was outlawed during this time period. • The church said it was sinful and perpetuated myths, legends and other religions.

2. How did Theatre Survive? • Theatre survived by two methods. • 1. the Minstrels – • These were traveling bands of entertainers, singers, storytellers, acrobats, etc. • They came into town and secretly set up a place and performance time usually in exchange for food and lodging. • This practice was punishable by death in some places. • The church disliked the minstrels because they kept many of the “old Ways” alive.

3. 2. The second method by which theatre survived was through the Church. • Most people couldn’t read and the church used theatre to act out the bible stories. • This was done with the help of the GUILDS. • Guilds were similar to Trade unions. They provided the goods, money and labor to produce the bible stories for the churches. • The church buildings of the time were large spaces and they didn’t have pews, the congregation stood, so it was easy to create a play set/stage. • The people liked these plays so much, the services became outrageously packed and the church finally said enough. • the church gave permission for the plays to be performed outside of church, in the town square or tavern. • These plays MUST have a religious theme or be a bible story.

4. Types of plays performed in the Dark Ages • Morality Plays • Plays that had a lesson of right or wrong, but were not “religious”. Example: Everyman • Cycle Plays • Sections of the Bible, for instance the last days of Christ, the birth of Christ, etc. Told in sections and moved from town to town. Performed in sections on wagons that transformed into stages. • Bible Stories – • Stories from the Bible, both old and new testament.

5. Theatre in the Renaissance • The renaissance began artistically in the late 1300’s early 1400’s in Florence, Italy. • The term renaissance means “rebirth” • Much of the intellectual growth of the renaissance is credited to Johannes Gutenberg. It is said due to his invention of the printing press, in 1455, knowledge was able to spread rapidly and to the masses. • The renaissance was a time of great growth and knowledge in all areas, the arts, science, literature, math. • Each area of Europe seemed to haveit’s own specialties. • Italy - art, Germany Opera/music and England - Theatre

6. Elizabethan Theatre • Elizabethan theatre actually begins during the Protestant reformation and extends until the fall of the monarchy and reign of the Puritan Parliament , which outlawed theatre. • Theatre became legal and people started going to see plays in London with the opening of The Theatre in 1576. • Theatre thrived under the reign of Elizabeth I. • Theatres were sponsored by noblemen. This means they paid for everything. The noblemen were the early “producers”. • Shakespeare was an actor first and then a playwright. He was a member of Lord Hunsdon’s company and then Lord Chamberlain's men, which performed at the Globe theatre.

7. The Globe and Richard Burbage

8. Richard Burbage first built the Theatre, then he built the Globe. • The Globe was Shakespeare’s theatre. • The globe had an audience capacity of 1500. • They used colored flags to indicate different types of plays; a black flag indicated tragedy, white flag indicated comedy and red flag indicated history. • The building was an octagonal, with an open air space, and a “pit” or “yard” in the middle. • There were three tiers on each of the remaining sides. • A stage was at one end, raised slightly, with balconies behind it. The heavens were painted on the roof.

9. The Globe

10. Renaissance Playwrights • Ben Johnson(1572 – 1637) – Queen’s playwright. He wrote comedies mostly. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare. An example of his work is Volpone. • Christopher Marlowe(1564 – 1593) – Marlowe was also a contemporary of Will Shakespeare. Marlowe was a rebel and an atheist and a bit of a rogue. He was killed in a bar brawl. An example of his work is Dr. Faustus. • William Shakespeare(1564 – 1616) – Most prolific of the playwrights, 38 plays have his name as author and over 150 sonnets. He is most quoted and his plays are continuously being performed all over the world.