Concetti Chiave
- The Elizabethan Theatre was influenced by medieval traditions, incorporating allegorical types, vivid caricature, and a mix of comedy and tragedy.
- Classic influences included Italian commedia dell'arte and works by Machiavelli and Seneca, introducing themes of intrigue and structured play divisions.
- Theatres were typically circular or octagonal with roofed galleries, featuring an apron stage extending into the yard for closer audience interaction.
- The Elizabethan stage lacked a general curtain, allowing continuous action and natural soliloquies as actors engaged directly with the audience.
- Unlike modern theatre, Elizabethan plays had no scenery, occurred in daylight, and scenes transitioned smoothly with new character entries.
The influence of Medieval tradition
From the medieval Mystery and moralist Plays there were certain innovations :
1) the tendency to think of a play as a kind of animated sermon where the characters and situations are allegorical types;
2) scenes of vivid caricature and realistic comedy;
3) the mingling of comedy and tragedy;
4)the idea of men’s place inside an ordered universe;
5) the concept of the mutability of fortunes and the influence of the stars.
The classic influence
The English theatre drew from:
1) the Italian “commedia dell’arte ”;
2) the works of Machiavelli in the display of horrors, unnatural crimes, vice and corruption;
3) the Latin poet and philosopher Seneca in the division of the play into a five acts in the tragic and bloody incidents; 4) Thomas Kyd’s very popular the “Spanish tragedy” with Machiavellian ingredients such as intrigues, lies and villains.
The structure of theatre
Were circular or octagonal. With roofed galleries (gallerie coperte), that looking down on the stage (palco) and the yard (cortile), where the poorer spectators stood. The stage, or apron stage, jutted out into the yard. Over the stage there is the shadow or roof that protected players from the rain. The Elizabethan playhouse was small. Of the interior area left between the galleries, the stage occupied almost half. A tiring house the place where the actor changed their attire, was presumably at the rear of the stage behind the stage there was an inner stage (quinte). The Elizabethan stage had no general stage curtain (sipario) there were also an upper stage (scena superiore) hidden by a curtain and a upmost area ( zona più alta) normally used by musicians.
Different by the modern theatre
In the mother theatre actors are separated from the audience by a curtain which conceals or reveals the whole stage. On the apron stage the actor came forward in daylight into the midst of his audience (udienza). The device of the soliloquy (soliloquio) was not artificial, as not artificial as on the modern stage, but quite a natural from of communication as a character explained his thoughts and intentions to those standing in front of him. In the theatre apparently there was no scenery and plays were acted in daylight. The action was continuous. A scene ended when all the actors had gone off the stage and new set of characters came on.
Domande da interrogazione
- Quali innovazioni derivano dalla tradizione medievale nel teatro elisabettiano?
- Quali influenze classiche ha subito il teatro inglese?
- Com'è strutturato il teatro elisabettiano?
- In che modo il teatro elisabettiano differisce dal teatro moderno?
Le innovazioni includono la tendenza a considerare una commedia come un sermone animato, scene di caricatura vivida e commedia realistica, la mescolanza di commedia e tragedia, l'idea del posto dell'uomo in un universo ordinato e il concetto di mutabilità delle fortune e l'influenza delle stelle.
Il teatro inglese ha subito influenze dalla "commedia dell'arte" italiana, dalle opere di Machiavelli, dal poeta e filosofo latino Seneca e dalla "Tragedia spagnola" di Thomas Kyd.
Il teatro elisabettiano era circolare o ottagonale, con gallerie coperte che guardavano sul palco e sul cortile. Il palco sporgeva nel cortile e c'era un tetto per proteggere gli attori dalla pioggia. Non c'era un sipario generale e l'azione era continua.
Nel teatro elisabettiano, gli attori erano in mezzo al pubblico senza un sipario a separarli. Non c'erano scenografie e le rappresentazioni avvenivano alla luce del giorno, con l'azione che era continua e il soliloquio era una forma naturale di comunicazione.
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