An Entertained Era In today’s modern world, millions of people around the globe enjoy to be entertained by the arts, such as music, dancing, animation, acting, and film. Although these forms of amusement are popular and widespread, many people might not realize that these activities got their origins from the Renaissance era. In the Renaissance Era, the entertainment industry began to soar and the largest form of entertainment was the theatre, which has many different aspects that play into having a successful drama; some of which include great playwrights, quality actors, and the stage itself. The Renaissance era was full of amazing playwrights, but by far the most well-known of all the authors is William Shakespeare. While Shakespeare …show more content…
Acting was a frowned upon profession and actors faced much adversity everywhere they travelled to. They were seen as untrustworthy and treated with caution but as the theatre grew in demand, the title of an actor became more respectable and with time, great actors were treated almost as well as royalty and some became so wealthy their social class rose to nobles! In the Renaissance theatre, actresses didn’t exist but women were still portrayed on the stage. With their slimmer physique and lack of body hair, all women roles were played by young men or boys in the acting world. Costumes of the era could convey a lot about a character as soon as the actor walked on stage because different fabrics and colors represented separate classes. Some colors such as the color purple and certain fabrics were only allowed to be worn by royalty and productions would need to gain special permission to wear those colors and fabrics (“Elizabethan Actors”). Without outstanding Renaissance actors such as Nathan Field, Joseph Taylor, Christopher Beeston, Edward Alleyn, and William Shakespeare that assisted in pioneering the acting world, it is difficult to imagine where theatre would have gone and where the drama domain would be …show more content…
Many modern age stages have curtains, lights, sound systems, a high ceiling, and a place to seat an audience, but stages came humble beginnings that were far below these standards. When dramas began to be put on for an audiences they would be performed by groups of travelling actors and be put on in the inn-yards which is the inner courtyard of a guest house or motel that often had balconies where audiences would sit to enjoy the production. The box set stage is originally from Germany but was introduced to England in 1830 by a an acting crew’s manager (Wild). The box set was a three-walled stage that had fourth wall open to the audience and paired with wall art for the back wall gave off the illusion of perspective and different settings. Box sets are still used today in smaller versions to show that a character is in a separate room or venue than another character that is also on stage. Along with being a great actor and a memorably talented playwright, William Shakespeare also revolutionized the stage world. Shakespeare and a band of actors known as Lord Chamberlain’s Men build the Globe Theatre that opened to the public in the fall of 1599. The Globe was an circular open-air theatre with three stories of seating and an open pit for spectators of lower classes to
This meant that there was a dramatic increase of women wearing pants (Guenther, 2004) [Figures 1 & 2] because they needed more comfortable and practical clothing to be able to work the heavy labour jobs they had taken over while the men were away at war (Tortora and Marcketti, 2015). Conversely, during Elizabethan times, clothing was restrictive but it was male actors who were allowed to cross-dress, as women were not allowed to act in theatres. During this time, nearly the entire population, from the upper classes to lower classes wore a ruff which encircled the neck, this dis-joined the head from the body and furthered restricted movement (Entwistle and Wilson (Eds), 2001) [Figure 3].
People may not consider him as a Renaissance man but should change their minds about that. There are many well known works by Shakespeare. His work interests many people around the world. The plays, poems, stories, etc, he wrote has impacted our literature. Even schools get students to read his plays.
As an actress and stagehand for the New York Civic Theatre, I am committed to a career in the entertainment business. Over the past twelve years, I have worked on every aspect of set design and production, mastering the endless technical challenges that live theatre presents. Consequently, I am equally comfortable constructing sets, sewing costumes, stringing lights and running lines with famous actors. Even after all these years, I have not lost my passion for the business. I still get goose bumps on opening night when I watch the combined energy of the production company come together for the first time in front of a live audience.
Music during the Elizabethan Era is extraordinarily different than it is now. The Elizabethan Era was during the time of Queen Elizabeth I 's reign. During the Elizabethan Era music was used for many things just like it is today. Music was also an important form of entertainment during this time.
Upstage is back, downstage is front, right is left, left is right, out is up, break a leg but don't really, wings have nothing to do with birds, the catwalk doesn’t involve cats, and when the stage manager says move it means move. The theatre vocabulary is very confusing for the outside world, but for me it is my second language. More specifically, I have developed a passion for the technical elements of theatre over the years. The joy of being the “people in black” that can make amazing sets and produce incredible plays which goes unnoticed.. Although this discourse is much small yet complex it has helped me find out who I am but also in my academic skills through learning how to work in teams, solve problems independently but also how to be
The Greeks were the first to introduce the concept of theater. As a matter of fact, one performer, Thespis, created the idea of a chorus, which was a group of people that expressed opinions, gave advice, and had the author’s point of view. The chorus would be the equivalent to the “score” in modern theater. The International Thespian Society, an organization formed to honor student’s success in the theater, was named after Thespis. In Greek theater, the place that the actors performed was called the “paraskene,” while in modern theater it is called the stage.
The very act of cross-dressing itself was subversive, especially in Spain where costume was hugely important, not just on stage but in real life. Literary critic William Egginton notes in An Epistemology of the Stage, that when it came to costume the "Spanish public was extremely sensitive to such signifiers of class and could not, for example, tolerate or comprehend a scene in which the signs of social status presented by costume and speech would conflict". (402) With the audience so sensitive to costume details, what must they have thought about Rosaura 's male attire? Women dressing as men was a common device used by playwrights in the Golden Age (mujer vestida de hombre ) and one wonders was it merely because it was practical?
Ancient plays throughout different cultures in history contained all male cast, failing to even cast women as they were deemed inferior. Tradition held that the culture in western societies restricted women’s roles. Even as female characters were indeed written in certain plays, the role were portrayed by a male. They regarded women being able to portray these roles as dangerous and that having men play them “neutralized” the danger it possessed. The Greek’s and the Roman’s both held these views making it impossible for women to be on stage.
“The theatre, for all its artifices, depicts life in a sense more truly than history, because the medium has a kindred movement to that of real life, though an artificial setting and form.” George Santayana Drama is one of the genres of theatre where comedy, tragedy or actions may be other genres. While drama refers to the written texts, prose or verses composition, which become theatre only when it is performed on the stage with actors performing the role of characters in the text in front of the audience i.e. it is abstract and subjective, theatre is a live performance that meant to be seen, it is physical and concrete. The renaissance period was considered the rebirth of several inspirational
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare was an actor, poet, and playwright, but he did so much more than that. He changed psychology, the english language, theater, writing, and created thousands of words we still use today. William Shakespeare wrote and acted in his plays during the Renaissance, which was a time from the 1300s until the 1600s when ideas of society changed. During the Renaissance, a new concept started to form that changed society which was humanism.
William Shakespeare and Brave New World María José Castañeda Guerrero >>> William Shakespeare was an important 16th-century English writer who was widely known for his poems and plays, such as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet or The Tempest. He has influenced many writers since his death and furthermore, has had an immense impact on recent films, plays and poems. Shakespeare has had a lot of influence on Brave New World, one of the most important Aldous Huxley's novels; but to be more specific, the Shakespeare's play that has more connections with Huxley's novel is The Tempest, a romance where reality and magic are together. The Tempest, popularly regarded as Shakespeare's last play, was performed in 1611 for James I and first published in 1623.
From Colonial Williamsburg Theatre to Broadway, theatre is ever-changing. The differences in each era of theatre are vast; the costumes, staging, acting techniques, and audiences all vary drastically from each other. The major eras and genres of American theatre include the colonial era, the Post-Revolution era, the Civil War era, Broadway, and Post-Modern—all with unique and varying aspects to them. Although the first permanent English settlement occurred at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, according to Richard Hornby’s article The Crisis in the American History, the entire 17th century passed with no mention of theatrical productions or performances in the Colonies (Hornby).
For example, the use of supernatural beings, violence on stage and even tragedy, Therefore Playwrights such as William Shakespeare could be a good example of such a technique. For the English Renaissance to be a success differently theatres were built. Some were public others were private. Some of the public theatres were; -
As a result, the experience of Shakespeare’s plays in the theater took a populist turn” (Octane 1). This shows that Shakespeare brought many new elements to playwriting, which seemingly improved plays because “Audience members engaged with the events taking place on stage, becoming vocal and often raucous” (Octane 1). This suggests that the new elements in Shakespeare’s writing sparked emotion in audience members as if the events were real. If an author can spark emotion in so many audience members, it shows that their writing style is extremely effective. Additionally, “Shakespeare is also credited as having invented genres that mixed both tragedy and comedy.
Most people never would consider Centre, Alabama, a small sleepy Southern town with a laid back atmosphere that could put an incurable insomniac to sleep, home to a thriving community theatre. Theatre Centre provides entertainment, wonder, dread, and happiness for all who witness it. I have loved and adored the theatre ever since I was a small child, performing in every play I could. Standing on stage fills me with a sense of pride and happiness that can be found nowhere else in the world. I love theatre, and even though the theatre I love more than any other thrives in a small town in Alabama, I still have a wonderful experience every time I go.