Concetti Chiave
- In the early 16th century, English theater companies were often seen as "rogues and vagabonds" until they gained legitimacy in 1572 by associating with powerful patrons.
- To avoid opposition from the London Common Council, theaters were built outside the city walls, with notable examples like the Curtain in 1576 and the Globe in 1599.
- English theaters of the time were circular with hexagonal or octagonal exteriors, featuring a pit for standing audiences and galleries for wealthier spectators.
- The stage had minimal scenery, relying on simple props and the audience's imagination; location changes were indicated with boards displaying the new setting.
- All roles, including female parts, were performed by men or boys, as women were prohibited from acting on stage during that period.
Origins of theater companies
From the beginning the sixteenth century, there had been in England numerous companies of actors playing either London or in provincial towns. But they were regarded by many people as “ rogues and vagabonds” and their social status was very uncertain until 1572, when it was provided that actors “belonging to any baron of this realm or any other personage of greater degree” should be authorized “to play, under the hand and seal of arms of such baron or personage”. In accordance with this edict, all theatrical troupes put themselves under the protection of some powerful personage: the company would bear its protector’s name, and the players be called his “servants”. Performances were at first given in inn-yards, the actors playing on a platform erected on trestles; later on, regular theatres were built.
Construction of theaters in London
In London the hostility of the Common Council was keenly felt by the companies of actors, who evaded all difficulties by carrying their “trade” outside the walls of the city; in 1576, James Burbage, a member of the Earl of Leicester’s company, erected a theatre, the Curtain, was raised near by. Later on, theatres were built in the borough of Southwark: the rose , in 1592, the Swan, in 1596, and the Globe, in 1599; with the latter the name of Shakespeare in especially associated.
Structure and audience of theaters
The English theatres were circular (Shakespeare, in Henry V, describes the house as “this wooden O”), the outside being hexagonal or octagonal. The pit was a sort of yard strewn with rushes, open to the weather, where people would stand, smoking, drinking beer or wine, eating nuts or apples, sheltering themselves from the rain if the weather was bad, in their ample cloaks. Around the pit were galleries in which the wealthier patrons were seated. The young lords and “gallants” would sit on stools or benches at the back of the stage, which consisted of a floor laid on trestles, and was usually covered, partly at least, by thatched roof. In the floor of the stage there was a trap allowing of the appearance and disappearance of ghosts.
Scenography and actors
The scenery was rudimentary: a few pieces of “arras” (= tapestry hanging for the walls of a room, generally with figures and scenes woven in colour, so called from Arras, a town famous for the making of this tapestry), some hangings, a small number of “movable properties” which served mainly for emblems (a tree for a forest, a pasteboard rock for a cliff, etc.), and the imagination of the audience did the rest. If, in the course on a play, the action was removed from one place to another, a board would be produced bearing in big letters the name of the locality whither the spectators’ imaginations must resort. The companies of actors did not comprise any women: the feminine parts were played by boys whose voices had not yet broken.
Domande da interrogazione
- How did theater companies in England gain legitimacy in the 16th century?
- What challenges did theater companies face in London, and how did they overcome them?
- What was the typical structure of English theaters during Shakespeare's time?
- How was scenography handled in 16th-century English theater?
- Who played female roles in 16th-century English theater, and why?
Theater companies gained legitimacy in 1572 when actors associated with a baron or a person of higher status were authorized to perform under their protection, thus improving their social status.
Theater companies faced hostility from the Common Council in London, which they overcame by establishing theaters outside the city walls, such as the Curtain in 1576 and later theaters in Southwark.
English theaters were circular with hexagonal or octagonal exteriors. They featured a pit for standing audiences, galleries for wealthier patrons, and a stage with a trapdoor for special effects.
Scenography was minimal, relying on tapestries, a few movable props, and the audience's imagination. Location changes were indicated by boards with the new setting's name.
Female roles were played by boys whose voices had not yet broken, as women were not allowed to perform on stage at that time.
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