The Elizabethan theatre was graced by many a talented actors of that time. Edward Alleyn, Robert Armin
Robert Armin
Robert Armin was an English actor, a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men. He became the leading comedy actor with the troupe associated with William Shakespeare following the departure of Will Kempe around 1600. Also a popular comic author, he wrote a comedy, The History of the Tw…
Christopher Beeston
Christopher Beeston was a successful actor and a powerful theatrical impresario in early 17th century London. He was associated with a number of playwrights, particularly Thomas Heywood.
Richard Burbage
Richard Burbage was an English stage actor, widely considered to have been one of the most famous actors of the Globe Theatre and of his time. In addition to being a stage actor, he was also a theatre owner, entrepreneur, and painter. He was the younger brother of Cuthbert Burbage. Th…
Henry Condell
Henry Condell was an actor in the King's Men, the playing company for which William Shakespeare wrote. With John Heminges, he was instrumental in preparing and editing the First Folio, the collected plays of Shakespeare, published in 1623.
William Kempe
William Kempe, commonly referred to as Will Kemp, was an English actor and dancer specialising in comic roles and best known for having been one of the original players in early dramas by William Shakespeare. Roles associated with his name may include the great comic creati…
William Rowley
William Rowley was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626 in the graveyard of St James's, Clerkenwell in north London.
Joseph Taylor
Joseph Taylor was a 17th-century English actor. As the successor of Richard Burbage as the leading actor with the King's Men, he was arguably the most important actor in the later Jacobean and the Caroline eras.
Who are some famous Elizabethan actors?
The Way out
- An acting troupe is defined as a group of actors that perform and travel together
- Prominent groups included Lord Strange’s Men, Admiral’s Men, and King’s Men.
- Earl of Leicester’s Men was one of queen Elizabeths favourite groups
- Lord Strange’s Men preformed several of Shakespears Plays
Did Elizabethan actors wear masks?
Masks were an integral part of the Elizabethan theater. William Shakespeare's acting troupes did not always boast large membership, so actors would play multiples roles, using masks to switch characters. When you are reading or staging one of the bard's plays, Shakespeare mask project ideas add an air of ...
What was unusual about Elizabethan actors?
- In the early 40’s costumes were heavily relied on to attract audience due to lack of props and scenery
- High class actors were allowed to wear top notch clothes, such as broad collared shirts and collarless jackets (more audiences)
- Queen Elizabeth I was responsible for introducing new styles of clothing to plays
Why was the Elizabethan theatre so popular?
Elizabethan theatre was popular for its time because Queen Elizabeth encouraged the arts, it was somewhere for every social class to go, and people could relate to the plays. One of the reasons that Elizabethan theatre was so popular was that it was enjoyed by Queen Elizabeth herself. Elizabeth loved learning new things.
Who were the actors on an Elizabethan stage and why?
During the Elizabethan era only men were allowed to act in the theatre until 1660 - it was judged to be unseemly for a woman to undertake such a role. Young boys were therefore hired to act in the female roles. The white make-up used by young male Elizabethan actors was lead based and highly poisonous.
What kind of people were the actors in Shakespeare's plays?
In Shakespeare's theatre actors were called players. There were no actresses, so women's parts were played by boys. Some boys began their careers as Children of the Chapel Royal, while others were taken on by companies to play female roles.
Who typically attended the Elizabethan theater?
Men and women attended plays, but often the prosperous women would wear a mask to disguise their identity (Elizabethan Era). Even though women did attend theatre, and even Queen Elizabeth herself loved the theatre women who attended theatre were often looked down upon.
How did actors fight on the Elizabethan stage?
Passing and blocking actions would often purposely grab the hand or wrist of the opponent, which would then cause the other to move closer and do the same; thus they would disarm one another and switch weapons. Defense was most often moving forward in parrying and attacking--not by retreating.
Why did males play female roles?
Women were not allowed to be on the stage because it was considered "dangerous." Men played male characters as well as female characters! "The Greeks believed that allowing women to perform publicly would be too dangerous and that having men portray them neutralized the danger." (Source) So what about the Romans?
Who played the female roles and why?
Women were allowed to act in the theatre until 1660 as it was judged to be unseemly for a woman to undertake such a profession. Young boys were therefore hired to act in the female roles. The costumes used for the female characters were extremely elaborate, reflecting the clothes worn during the Elizabethan era.
Who were the patrons of the new theatre?
PatronsÁKOS Németh. Born in Szekesfehervar, 1964. ... Alban Ukaj. Alban Ukaj is a renowned Bosnian actor. ... Almut Wagner. Almut Wagner studied Theatre, Film and Television Studies, Romance Languages, and Sociology at Cologne University. ... Andrej Nosov. Director, producer, activist. ... Bernhard Studlar. Born in Vienna in 1972.
What gender were all of the actors in Shakespeare's time period?
Though there is evidence that women acted in street performances, and in other notorious venues, all commercial acting companies of the time were made up entirely of men and it was illegal for women to act on stage professionally until 1661.
Life in Elizabethan theatre
Women, back then, were not allowed to work in theatres and the Globe was no exception. The female roles were performed by young men and boys of adolescent age. Sometimes, even old men performed as women for the roles of old and haggard ones.
Licenses of Elizabethan acting troupes
Some of these acting troupes had a bad reputation. They were quite unruly and created a nuisance in the society.
Costumes of theatres
The actors wore vibrant and colourful clothes made of layers of fabric. Since women were not allowed to perform, young men and boys enacted female roles.
Why was popular entertainment important in the Elizabethan era?
Life was difficult for the majority of people during the Elizabethan Age. Popular entertainment was therefore an important way for them to escapes life’s hardships.
What were the plays of the 16th century called?
At the beginning of the 16th century many plays were based upon religious themes. These were called ‘morality plays’ and showed good and bad conduct. Others, called ‘miracle plays’ showed scenes from the Bible.
Why was the flag flown from the top of the theatre?
A flag would be flown from the top of the theatre to show a play was going to be performed. People sat around the stage in galleries. The cheapest place was in front of the stage where ordinary people stood. They were known as ‘groundlings’.
What was the Elizabethan theatre?
Elizabethan drama was the dominant art form that flourished during and a little after the reign of Elizabeth I, who was Queen of England from 1558 to 1603. Before, drama consisted of simple morality plays and interludes, which were skits performed at the banquets of the Queen’s father Henry VIII or at public schools at Eton.
What were Elizabethan plays modeled after?
They were modelled after the comedies of the Roman playwrights Plautus and Terence and the tragedies of Seneca.
Why did Elizabethan dramas blossom?
Historians believe that the flowering of Elizabethan drama was due in part to the burst of patriotic confidence and national identity that erupted after England’s victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588. This was a fleet of ships assembled by Philip II of Spain to conquer England.
When did Shakespeare start writing dramaturgy?
It might not be a coincidence that Shakespeare began to contribute in earnest to Elizabethan dramaturgy around 1588, when he was 24, though he’d arrived in London from his home in Stratford on Avon around 1585 to seek work as an actor. As a playwright, he gave Marlowe’s blank verse more range, flexibility and subtlety.
What plays were performed at the Globe?
The Globe premiered some of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, including Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and King Lear.
What was the reaction of the Puritans to the theatre?
The Puritan reaction against the stage was such that the players had to set up theatres outside the London city limits on the south side of the Thames, but attending plays remained popular among non-Puritans. The most famous of these theatres, which became the Lord Chamberlain’s Men home, was the Globe Theatre.
When did Elizabethan drama fade?
By 1600, three years before Elizabeth died, the robustness of Elizabethan drama began to fade. After Shakespeare’s retirement after 1612 and his death in 1616, Elizabethan drama was no more.
How did the Elizabethan theatre differ from the Elizabethan theatre?
The Elizabethan theatre differed in that it had a main platform, an inner stage, and an upper stage level that made movement possible in all directions instead of simply along the length of a narrow stage.
What were the two types of theatre in England?
One was represented by small groups of professional actors who performed in halls, inns, or marketplaces. The location of a play was established by the words and gestures of the actors. As in the commedia dell’arte, these localities had little significance. The second type of theatre, found in the London area, was made up of amateurs, usually university students, performing for the royal court and assorted gentry. The audience and the actors were educated, acquainted with the classics, and knowledgeable about theatre in other countries, particularly France. The stage was probably set with buildings made of laths, covered with painted canvas, with cloud borders masking the upper part of the acting area.
What was the Elizabethan stage made of?
The stage was probably set with buildings made of laths, covered with painted canvas, with cloud borders masking the upper part of the acting area. The significant achievement of the Elizabethan stage was connected with the theatres of professional acting groups, not the court theatre. During the second half of the 16th century, ...
How big was the Elizabethan stage?
The typical Elizabethan stage was a platform, as large as 40 feet square (more than 12 metres on each side), sticking out into the middle of the yard so that the spectators nearly surrounded it. It was raised four to six feet and was sheltered by a roof, called “the shadow” or “the heavens.”.
How many theatres were there in Sevilla?
Sevilla (Seville) at one time boasted seven permanent theatres; the most important in Madrid was the Corral de la Cruz, opened in 1579. The corrales themselves, enclosing a square or rectangular courtyard, were unroofed until the 18th century; when roofs were added, a row of windows was added under the eaves.
What is the second level of Spanish theatre?
The second level, basically a gallery, usually represented towers, city walls, or hills. Spanish staging conventions, like those of the Elizabethan theatre, tended to be simple. To denote a change of location, an actor merely exited and reentered.
What type of roofs did the theatres have?
All of the theatre buildings were round, square, or octagonal, with thatched roofs covering the structure surrounding an open courtyard. Spectators, depending on how much money they had, could either stand in the yard, which may have sloped toward the stage, sit on benches in the galleries that went around the greater part of the walls, ...
Life in Elizabethan Theatre
Licenses of Elizabethan Acting Troupes
- Some of these acting troupes had a bad reputation. They were quite unruly and created a nuisance in the society. In order to control them, regulations were imposed on these troupes. Licenses were granted by the Queen to the aristocracy in order to maintain these troupes. At first, the actors only performed at the halls of their patrons, but later on, the rules were relaxed. All per…
Costumes of Theatres
- The actors wore vibrant and colourful clothes made of layers of fabric. Since women were not allowed to perform, young men and boys enacted female roles. Women clothing was elaborate and whalebones were used to create a petite appearance. Men wore stockings and full-length dresses. Men’s costumes consisted of breeches, wigs, shirts, stockings, fitted coats, cape, and …