Séance 1 - Early Modern Theatre

Plan du cours:

I) The political context:

II) The theatre in Early Modern England
III) The Globe theatre

In this class, you’ll get an overview of what the world of Early Modern theatre was like, when
Shakespeare, Marlowe, Johnson, Webster and Kyd wrote their famous plays.

I) The political context

For this part, you may want to re-read your old classes on Tudor England, for a quick reminder
of the context.
Queen Elizabeth’s reign: 1558-1603.
King James’ reign: 1603-1625 (remember he was already king of Scotland)
If you remember you civilisation classes from last year on Tudor England, you know that there
were issues concerning the legitimacy of Queen Elizabeth, and that being childless, the question
of her succession was a major one. The British also still had in mind the trauma of the political
unrest caused by the War of the Roses (Lancaster vs York), and so questions of legitimacy,
succession, usurpation, who was the rightful heir to the throne of England, etc… were issues
that would have resonated a lot with the Early Modern audiences. Shakespeare wrote a series
of historical plays, from Richard II to Henry VIII, that chronicled the troublesome history of
England. The question of usurpation / legitimacy and female rule was also broached in
Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi.
The other point you have to remember is the growing presence of the Puritans (the same people
who emigrated to America on the Mayflower): it’s important because they were staunchly
opposed to the theatre, and their growing influence led to the closing of the theatres in 1642.
(see link on your ENT about the Puritans)

II) The Theatre in Early Modern England

As opposed to other types of performances, on scaffolds erected in town squares and festivals
(see images of pageant wagons in you PPT), the Early Modern Theatre was a permanent
theatre from 1575 to the closure of the theatres in 1642.

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However, the status of Elizabethan theater is ambiguous: it was an important form of
entertainment, which attracted large audiences from a variety of social backgrounds, and a
profitable business – but it was threatened, and tolerated rather than actively supported by the
authorities.
The theatre was patronized by rich people, nobles for ex (remember Shakespeare’s troupe was
called “The King’s Men” during the reign of King James), but it was necessary to have the
plays approved, and they were submitted to censorship.
From 1580s onwards, the Master of the Revels (an official in the Lord Chamberlain’s
department) would either hear or read every play before it was performed; the performance
depended on his authority/authorizing the play. Some scenes could be deleted if they posed
political problems, for example if they were considered as promoting sedition and rebellion, if
they praised the deposition of a sovereign, or if they were too nice to a political enemy (Spain,
France, …).
There were several opponents to the theater:
- local authorities: theatres raised problems in the neighborhoods where they were built;
they increased traffic (which was a big complaint, large audiences of several thousand
people [between 2,000 and 3,000] crowded the streets, made noise + the noise and
constant passage of carriages). They also threatened public health (fear of contagion in
the crowds – remember that at that time a lot of dangerous and highly infectious diseases
like the plague, cholera or typhoid fevers decimated the population), and fostered crime
(crowds attracted pickpockets and prostitutes, and was seen as a place of corruption)
In any case, the theatres were always in disreputable neighborhoods: there were taverns
(alehouses) and whorehouses (brothels) close by, since these establishments knew they would
get a lot of business from the crowds that came to the theatres.

- the Puritans: they thought that amusements like the theatre drew people away from their
work, and were seditious, encouraging disorder (because of the content of the plays >
think for example of the comedies, like As You Like It or A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
where the young people rebel against authority).
The Puritans were vociferous adversaries. They considered theatre as sinful (cf reasons listed
above), and were particularly hostile to boy-actors, because they played female parts and
therefore might evoke homosexual desire…

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The main playhouses were: The Theatre (in Shoreditch, where Shakespeare’s plays were first
performed), The Rose, The Globe (both in Southwark – the Globe being the iconic
Shakespearean theatre, built after the troupe had to leave their previous venue, the Theatre),
and the Blackfriars theater (see map on the PPT).
Those playhouses attracted large audiences, from a variety of social backgrounds. They were a
very popular form of entertainment, but they had to compete with other forms of popular
entertainment in the neighborhood (remember the theatre is a business – to survive it needs
money, so theatres depended on the attendance of large audiences, they had to be interesting
enough to be able to compete with all the other theatres in town, and all the other forms of
entertainment). Among the rival forms of entertainment, there was:
- animal-related entertainment: bear-baiting (see image on your PPT), cock-fights, …
- civic pageants (to honor military victories or distinguished officials), + religious or royal
processions > you will find references to civic/religious pageants in Shakespeare’s plays
- prostitutes (who were also among the public of the theatre), taverns, brothels.
- rituals of public humiliation: public punishments and executions. Executions were
public (whether beheadings or hangings), and so was, in some cases, mutilation
(branding, cutting off an ear or a hand as a punishment for thieving, …) > in
Shakespeare’s plays, especially in the tragedies, there are a lot of dead bodies on stage
at the end + some plays include cannibalism (Titus Andronicus) or gruesome physical
punishment (the enucleation of Gloucester in King Lear), which would have rivaled the
gruesome public humiliations people were accustomed to seeing in the public space.
- Bedlam (Bethlehem/Bethlem Hospital), the lunatic asylum, was also open to the public,
and was quite popular; people went there to see mad people chained and behaving in a
weird way. > same thing, Shakespeare’s plays refer to madness a lot (in King Lear,
Edgar disguises himself as “Tom o’ Bedlam”)

III) Shakespeare’s company and the Globe theatre

The company have been playing at the Globe theatre/playhouse since 1599.
There were 2 types of audiences: those who paid a penny and were in the pit (called “the
groundlings”) and those who paid more and were in the galleries; sometimes the actors
addressed a specific audience, like the groundlings, the basest spectators (when there were
bawdy jokes for example, or confidences of crimes or criminal intentions, …) or the more
sophisticated members of the audience (think for example of Hamlet’s “to be or not to be”

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soliloquy, which would have been delivered chiefly for the more educated portion of the
audience).
The conditions of performance:
The stage was close to the audience, with pillars on either side: the presence of these pillars
imposed constraints but also opened possibilities (to hide a character for example)
There were also tiring rooms (to change costumes), accessed through 2 lateral doors, and a trap
leading to “hell” + a trap in the roof above the stage (to make the gods descend for example).
The trap to “hell” was used for example in the gravediggers’ scene in Hamlet, when he jumps
into Ophelia’s grave.
The Globe was open-air theatre, and held performances in the afternoon, with natural daylight.
There was no lighting on stage, and when there was it was to signify night (torches, candles).
There were no painted sets either, only a few props (costumes, crowns, exotic things signifying
the country, etc), hence it was necessary for the chorus to let us know we have changed places,
or to announce where the play will take place (cf in Romeo and Juliet, the prologue needs to let
you know that the play takes place “in fair Verona, where we lay our scene” and that Romeo
has been banished to Mantua).

The cast was composed of 10-12 permanent actors and 3 boy actors (who played the female
roles), and sometimes extras were hired (musicians, etc) when more people on stage were
needed (in ball or battle scenes for example).
Sometimes one actor played the same role, and he was both the chorus and another minor
character (a torch-bearer, a participant in a feast, etc).

The publication of the plays:

Remember Shakespeare did not make money by publishing his plays (which he did not do!), or
even by writing them (since they were the property of the company), but by being a shareholder
in his company: the theatre is a business first and foremost, and Shakespeare had very little
control over his own texts.
It wasn’t in the interest of the company to publish the play texts, at least not while the plays
were being performed: they feared competition from rival companies (who would have
acquired the text and performed the play too, therefore stealing business away) + the companies
thought that people might read the play instead of going to the theatre to hear it if the plays
were published.

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Published plays were generally sold when the theatres were closed for the plague or when the
company was in need of capital, or when the play was old and was not likely to be revived
profitably.
The plays were a collective enterprise: decisions about cuts (in order for the performance to last
only 2 ½ hours), additions, minor or major revisions were not in the playwright’s sole hands.
They were a work in progress; actors were not given a full copy (to reduce expenses + to avoid
being betrayed by an actor who would sell the play to a rival), only their own part and cue lines.
Since no contemporary manuscript survives of any of Shakespeare’s plays, we can only
hypothesize. Was there a full copy prepared for the Master of Revels? A more legible copy
done by the author afterwards, or by a professional scribe? Even then, the play texts were not
definitive: the copy of the play might also be annotated for the performance (making the stage
directions more precise, specifying entrances and exits, noting special needs for props or sound
effects, cutting passages that would have made the performance too long).

Now, you know that Shakespeare’s plays have several versions, the quartos and folios: folio is
the biggest size of books ; a quarto is smaller, less expensive, less prestigious (cf “livre de
poche”)
A quarto is a book printed on one or several sheet(s) of paper folded twice, so that each sheet
produces four leaves (or eight pages), each leaf a fourth the size of the original sheet.
A folio is when each sheet of paper is folded once, making 2 leaves, or 4 pages.

Shakespeare and his contemporaries:

Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born in Stratford-upon-Avon: a glover’s son (so from a low
social background – Shakespeare was an autodidact). Married to Anne Hathaway and had 3
children: Susanna, Hamlet and Judith (when Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, the play, his son had
just died). Judith Shakespeare is also the name given by V. Woolf to Shakespeare’s imaginary
sister, in A Room of One’s Own. Shakespeare was first an actor, and then a poet and a
playwright.
Among his most famous contemporaries, you can find:
- Thomas Kyd, author of the Spanish Tragedy
- Christopher Marlowe, author of Dr Faustus
- John Webster, author of The Duchess of Malfi
- Ben Johnson, author of Every Man in His Humour