19/1/07 - English Literature - Theatre and Performance

Previous to studies in drama and theatre, plays were read out in the same way as epic poetry. Characters were treated like real people (e.g. "How many children had Lady Macbeth?"). Alternatively, poems could be seen as sources of imagery and metrical verse. The limitation of this is that it treats drama as a reading text, not as something written for the theatre, as something cultural and increasingly professional.

When studying a play, the stage, space, performance conditions, institutions and commercial arrangements should all be considered. Theatre should be seen in a social context, e.g. a court performance.

Bear baiting and animal fighting were popular entertainments before drama became public. Amphitheatres were created for the first time during the Elizabethan era; they were the first purpose-built stages for drama, with a backstage area, galleries and a roof. The New Globe was one of these. They were different to today's theatres: they were bare, they had no scenery, they were in the open air, there was no clear demarcation of the stage space and the audience space, plays were performed in the round, there were no stage lights. Consequently, actors had to behave differently then compared to now. Different parts of the stage delineated different acting. The locus was for famous and important characters, who would act as if they were in a different world. The front of the stage was for actors who could acknowledge the presence of the audience, and slapstick could be acted here. This acting was highly mimetic and akin to pantomime. The best seats were to the side of the stage, on the stage itself. Because of the close proximity of the audience to the actors, illusionistic drama was impossible.

There were indoor theatres, like Blackfriars Theatre. From 1609n onwards, Shakespeare used the theatre, particularly in winter. It was expensive to attend plays in such theatres, and more comfortable, so was available only to elite audiences. Because of the private and educated audience, there were more classical references, more erudite satire and more risqué political statements. Lighting could be used to illuminate the stage for the first time. Here there was clear delineation of audience stage, so special effects and more dramatic scene changes became possible. Language was less important here because there were so many other resources available.

Chorister boys were press ganged into such theatre. They learned voice projection, acting and singing. Children performed for an adult audience. When Shakespeare took over the theatre, male adults also took over. The young boys tended to play female parts, while the adult males played men and comic roles, whether male or female in character.

Gender identity was mixed up, and there was sexual intrigue and interaction. Cross dressing was therefore a major issue, and not always accepted.

"What man so ever weareth woman’s apparel is accursed, and what woman weareth man’s apparel is accursed also. … Our apparel was given to us as a sign distinctive to discern betwixt sex and sex, and therefore one to wear the apparel of another sex, is to participate with the same, and to adulterate the verity of his own kind."
[Philip Stubbes, The Anatomy of Abuses (1583)]

One woman, Mary Frith, was a notorious celebrity for dressing in a mixture of male and female items. Sometimes she got up on stage and played her flute. However, this was considered scandalous, and she was equated to a prostitute.

It was widely thought that theatre seduced people into vice and caused them to lose their identity. This was particularly thought among Puritans and the civic authorities in London. Theatres were built outside the jurisdiction of the authorities and churches. St. Paul's Cathedral was built on the north bank of the Thames, while the theatres were built on the south bank. The theatre was a marginal institution, considered to be threatening to the authorities, who thought that the only reason that people should gather was for mass. Henry VIII sold Protestant churches to the people, built in the Liberties, also places outside the authorities' jurisdiction.

"For the student of Western culture, the playhouses of Elizabethan London can precipitate an uncanny sense of cultural déjà vu… Homer was always a wanderer, as Socrates says, errant and homeless as the songs he sang; poetry and drama began in exile, and whether actually returned to their proper place or not, are to be viewed as marginal pastimes. Literally or figuratively, they take place outside the polis, society, or episteme to which they ambiguously belong. They stand not outside history, but at a slight remove from the historical conditions that make them possible – able to transcend, criticize, and even comment upon those conditions by virtue of a certain marginality."
[Steven Mullaney, The Place of the Stage (1988), 56]

Theatres prospered because they were commercially successful; they were wrapped up in the commercial life of London. Plays such as Volpone comment on the commercial nature of themselves. The issue of commerce versus morals was often brought up.

Theatres were also a resource which political authorities could use for events such as the Lord Mayor's parade. An arch built in Fenchurch to welcome King James to London represents an actor and musicians as part of the culture of the city. There rose a new form of English drama - the masque. A masque is difficult to define, but it could be described as a multi-media spectacle. There would be music, actors, painters, ornate costumes, and the involvement of nobles and royals and their guests. Masques occurred on special occasions such as the arrival of a foreign noble visitor. King James watched such masques from above in his purpose-built palace, White House. Scenery moved about, there were backdrops, elaborate sets, illusions and depth, and the king was entitled to the seat with the best view of the illusions on backdrops, such as one point perspective.