History of Theatre

Elizabethan/Jacobean Theatre

Time period: 1558 – 1625 (Reign of Queen Elizabeth + Reign of King James)

Cultural/key events and influence on style of theatre:

 Protestant Reformation banned ‘mystery plays’ that enacted Biblical stories e.g. Crucifixion
 Morality plays became all the rage portraying the perennial battle b/w good and evil
 Fragile armistice b/w Catholics, Anglicans, and Puritans – Shakespeare steered clear of
religion in his plays
 Urbanisation
 Cut across class divides – “the same play performed before the queen in Whitehall would be
seen by rich merchants and down-at heal ‘groundlings’ at the Globe theatre”
 Increasing stability and prosperity under Elizabeth who was unifying the nation under
patriotism – arts were flourishing and great, mostly Italian, literature was being translated
and published which gave Shakespeare inspiration

Dunton-Downer, Leslie and Riding, Alan. Essential Shakespeare Handbook.

A Penguin Company, 2004

Key theatrical movements and their formal features:

Theatrical movement Formal features

Morality plays  Contain a protagonist who represents
humanity as a whole – lacks personal
motivation/any inward struggle (Craig,
Hardin. “Morality Plays and Elizabethan
Drama.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 1,
no. 2, 1950, pp. 64–72. JSTOR,
https://doi.org/10.2307/2866678.
Accessed 3 Nov. 2023.)
 Supporting characters are
personifications of abstract concepts,
each aligned w/either virtue or vice
 Encourage audiences to reflect upon
importance of penitential ritual
 “the temptation, fall and redemption of
the protagonist” – Pamela King
Mystery plays  Elizabethan reconstruction of older
medieval traditions
 Explored the spiritual history of
Mankind using Biblical stories
 Dramatizations of both the Old and
New Testament miracles
 Popular topic – Christ and his
crucifixion/resurrection
 Played by clergymen/other members of
the Church

Notable playwrights and their works from this time period:

 William Shakespeare – King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet
 Christopher Marlowe – The Tragicall History of D. Faustus, Tamburlaine the Great, The Jew
of Malta
 Francis Beaumont – The Noble Gentleman, Love’s Pilgrimage
 Ben Jonson – Volpone, The Alchemist