British Teather

Index / Contents

Index……………………………………………………………..1 Introduction …………………………..…………....……………...2
High and late Medieval theatre, 1050–1500…………………...………3-6
Renaissance and Elizabethan periods …………………………...….. 6-7
Victorian era and later............................................................................8-10Renaissance..........................................................................................11-13
17th and 18th centuries..............................................................................13-15
18th century...........................................................................................15-16
19th century...........................................................................................17-18
20thcentury...........................................................................................19-20
Elizabethan Theatre, English and restoration.........................................21-24
The English theatre in the age of Shakespeare........................................24-28
The Shakespeare Theatre: Drama productions, histories, comedies andtragedies..............................................................................................28-31
Conclusion...............................................................................................32
Notes…………………………..……………………...……..…...33

Introduction
Drama was introduced to England from Europe by the Romans, and auditoriums were constructed across the country for this purpose. By the medieval period, the mummers' plays had developed, a form of earlystreet theatre associated with the Morris dance, concentrating on themes such as Saint George and the Dragon and Robin Hood. These were folk tales re-telling old stories, and the actors travelled from town to town performing these for their audiences in return for money and hospitality. The medieval mystery plays and morality plays, which dealt with Christian themes, were performed at religiousfestivals.


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High and late Medieval theatre, 1050–1500
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The importance of the High Middle Ages in the development of theatre was the economic and political changes that led to the formation of guilds and the growth of towns. This would lead to significant changes in the Late Middle Ages In the British Isles , plays wereproduced in some 127 different towns during the Middle Ages. These vernacular Mystery plays were written in cycles of a large number of plays: York (48 plays), Chester, Wakefield and Unknown. A larger number of plays survive from France and Germany in this period and some type of religious dramas were performed in nearly every European country in the Late Middle Ages. Many of these plays containedcomedy, devils, villains and clowns.
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The majority of actors in these plays were drawn from the local population. For example, at Valenciennes in 1547, more than 100 roles were assigned to 72 actors. Plays were staged on pageant wagon stages, which were platforms mounted on wheels used to move scenery. Often providing their own costumes, amateurperformers in England were exclusively male, but other countries had female performers. The platform stage, which was an unidentified space and not a specific locale, allowed for abrupt changes in location.
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Morality plays emerged as a distinct dramatic form around 1400 and flourished until 1550. The most interesting morality play is The Castle...