Elizabethan or Jacobean Theatre

The Elizabethan-Jacobean Theatre

1.       Actors held in low esteem, grouped with animal trainers, jugglers, and the like.

2.       Public Theatres were all outside of the city jurisdiction in the so-called “liberties” – on the margins of society.

3.       As a consequence, theatrical companies needed to have patrons.          

a.       Shakespeare company during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I was The Lord

Chamberlain’s Men

b.      With ascension of King James I, Shakespeare’s company became The King’s Men.

4.       Theatrical scripts were not thought of as literature. Ben Jonson was ridiculed when he gathered his plays together and published them has his OPUS (that is, Works after classical precedents). 

5.       There were both public and later private theatres.

a.       The Public Theatres were amphitheatres and included

i.        The Red Lion (1567)

ii.      The Theatre (1576)

iii.    The Curtain (1577) iv. The Rose (1587)

v.            The Swan (1595)

vi.          The Globe (1599)

vii.        The Fortune (1600)

viii.      The Boar’s Head (1606)

ix.          The Red Bull (1604)

x.            The Hope (1614)

6.       These theatres were public and communal with up to 3,000 spectators.

7.       Performances were in the afternoon in the spring and summer.

8.       Lighting was all natural. Language was used to create nights, moods, and so on.

9.       There were few properties and language again was used to evoke the atmosphere and transform the bare state – at the time audience would go to “hear” a play – “weele heare a play tomorrow” Hamlet (2.2.567-8)

10.   The audience stood in the pit or yard around the stage or they sat in one of the galleries surrounding the stage, or on the stage itself, or in the Lord’s Room.

11.   The physical conditions of the theatrical space very intimate.

a.       The actors were close to the audience both in the pit and in the galleries that created the sensation of a wall of people.

b.      Because of the nearness, actors could act naturalistically, facial expressions and gestures were easily seen – compare Hamlet’s advice to the players. 

12.   The Physical Layout

a.       Thrust stage – virtually theatre in the round

b.      Gallery for musicians and balcony scenes or high walls to castles

c.       Roof over the stage, emblazoned with symbols from the zodiac.

d.      Two main doors

e.       Possible a discovery area

f.        Trap to under stage, known as hell

g.       Pillars or columns that were incorporated into the action

h.      Little scenery 

The modern version of the Globe theatre