Elizabethan Times and

Romeo and Juliet

Mrs. Fleming English I

Elizabethan audiences differ from today’s audiences in the following ways:   Audiences participated in the experience. Actors directly addressed the audience; sometimes the audience answered back.

Elizabethan Theater

  Performances were given everyday except Sunday, from two to five to take advantage of the sunlight.

Theatre managers could not advertise to draw customers. Instead, they flew flags as show time neared: black for tragedy, white for comedy, and red for history.

Elizabethan Theater

 Theaters did not have restrooms or intermissions. Playhouses usually smelled of urine, ginger, garlic, tobacco, and sweat (few Elizabethans bathed).

Elizabethan Theater

 Rehearsal time was minimal. Actors learned their parts in about a week. A leading man would learn and retain over seventy different roles in three years.

Elizabethan Theatre

 There was no producer or director; the actors were in complete control of the production.

The Stage

  There were three tiers to the stage, corresponding to earth, heaven, and hell.

Behind the stage were the tiring (attiring) or dressing rooms.

The Stage

  Scenery and props were minimal. Actors described the setting through dialogue called “scene painting.” Costumes were often the castoffs of the aristocratic patron. Actors also wore make up, an abomination to the Puritans.

The Actors

 Since women were forbidden to act on the public stage, female roles were played by prepubescent boys.

The Theatre (that’s its name)

   Built in 1576 by James Burbage.

The first theater in England.

First time the word was used to refer to a building used specifically to stage plays.

The Theatre (that’s its name)

 Lost its lease in 1597. Burbage’s sons demolished the building on December 28, 1598 and transported its timbers across the Thames River. They later reused that wood to build The Globe.

Shakespeare

   Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

Received an excellent education.

Married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 and she was 26. They had three children together: Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith.

Shakespeare

   Moved to London to become an actor.

Became known for acting, as well as writing.

Wrote a total of 37 plays: 17 comedies, 10 histories, and 10 tragedies.

Shakespeare

   Prospered under Queen Elizabeth I, who supported the theater.

Retired in approximately 1613. Died April 23, 1616. He is buried in Stratford-upon-Avon at the Holy Trinity church.

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Romeo and Juliet

Among the earliest plays that Shakespeare wrote.

Based upon Arthur Brooke’s The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet.

Most of the Elizabethan audience knew that the story would end tragically.

This play is often listed as a frequently censored book because of sexual content and the age of the main characters.

The Feud

House of Capulet  Juliet—daughter of Capulet   Tybalt—nephew of Lady Capulet, Juliet’s cousin Nurse—Juliet’s nanny   Capulet—Juliet’s father Lady Capulet—Juliet’s mother House of Montague  Romeo-son of Montague   Mercutio—a relative of the Prince of Verona and friend of Romeo Benvolio—nephew of Montague and friend of Romeo   Lord Montague—Romeo’s father Lady Montague—Romeo’s mother

The Feud

Other Characters  Paris—a young noble and relative of the Prince. Juliet’s suitor   Prince Escalus—ruler of Verona Friar Laurence—Romeo’s confidante and spiritual leader, the two lovers’ co-conspirator.