Richard Woods, Georgia’s School Superintendent

“Educating Georgia’s Future”

gadoe.org

17 and 18 Century
th th

Theatre
…From the Sun King to David Garrick…
Theatre in 17th Century France Richard Woods,
Georgia’s School Superintendent
“Educating Georgia’s Future”
gadoe.org

• The Age of Absolutism

(Louis XIV. reigned 72
years)
• France wanted a national
literature and theatre
• First theatre company
allowed in Paris in 1629
• Cardinal Richelieu created
French Academy, 1635
Neoclassical Tragedy Richard Woods,
Georgia’s School Superintendent
“Educating Georgia’s Future”
gadoe.org

• Rules:
• Unities of time, place,
action
• Decorum
• Verisimilitude
• Pierre Cornielle, The Cid
(1636) – controversy
• Jean Racine, Phaedra
(1677)
Molière (1622-1673) Richard Woods,
Georgia’s School Superintendent
“Educating Georgia’s Future”
gadoe.org

• Born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin

• Led an acting troupe through provinces for 12
years
• Influenced by commedia dell’arte
• Wins patronage of the King
• Famous plays:
• Tartuffe (1664)
• The Misanthrope (1666)
• The Miser (1668)
Theatre in…Tennis
Courts??
Richard Woods,
Georgia’s School Superintendent
“Educating Georgia’s Future”
gadoe.org

• The two main theatre in Paris were

• Hôtel de Bourgogne
• Théâtre du Marais (a converted tennis court)
• The court theatres used elaborate machine
effects (“Hall of Machines”) to stage opera and
ballets
• Comédie-Française, founded in 1680 by the King –
French National Theatre
The Restoration in England Richard Woods,
Georgia’s School Superintendent
“Educating Georgia’s Future”
gadoe.org
• Charles II restored to the
throne in 1660, reigned until
1685
• Return of the “banished
cavaliers” created a careless
atmosphere in London
• Charles gave out patents for
Drury Lane and Covent Garden
• French and Italian theatre
conventions were imported,
especially…
…Actresses!! Richard Woods,
Georgia’s School Superintendent
“Educating Georgia’s Future”
gadoe.org

• Nell Gwyn (1650-87)

• “Pretty, witty Nell” was
an orange girl, comic
actress, and the King’s
favorite mistress
• (His last words: “Let not
poor Nelly starve!”)
Restoration Comedy of
Manners
Richard Woods,
Georgia’s School Superintendent
“Educating Georgia’s Future”
gadoe.org

• Characters are upper class or nobility

• Wit is the most important quality
• Filled with sexual puns and innuendo
• Amoral behavior is endorsed
• Plays:
• William Wycherly, The Country Wife (1675)
• Aphra Behn, The Rover (1677)
• Wm. Congreve, The Way of the World (1700)
18 Century Plays
th Richard Woods,
Georgia’s School Superintendent
“Educating Georgia’s Future”
gadoe.org

• Religious protests against “profaneness and

immorality” forced playwrights to clean up their
act
• As a consequence, there were heroic tragedies
and “sentimental comedies” which affirmed
middle-class morality
• John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera (1728) was a
sensation, created the “ballad opera”
• Government censorship was enforced in 1737
(“Licensing Act”)
John Gay, The Beggar’s
Opera (1728)
Richard Woods,
Georgia’s School Superintendent
“Educating Georgia’s Future”
gadoe.org
David Garrick (1717-79) Richard Woods,
Georgia’s School Superintendent
“Educating Georgia’s Future”
gadoe.org

• The “Theatrical Newton” –

most famous actor of his age
• Debut as Richard III. in 1741
• Developed a more natural
acting style
• Stage reforms: careful
preparation, longer
rehearsals, spectators off
stage, pensions for actors