and Performance

THE REPERTORY SYSTEM

PLAYS A successful play would typically run for eight to twelve performances over a period of four to Playing companies in six months the 1590s presented a different play each AUDIENCES day, selecting from a The demand from repertoire of usually audiences twenty to forty plays ACTING for new plays forced COMPANIES companies to add a new play every two weeks

Two most significant (and rival) acting companies: the Admiral’s Men and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men Typical types of plays included: tragedies (, Romeo and Juliet), comedies (), and histories (Henry VIs All classes of society and Richards) visited public theatre

PLAYWRIGHTS ACTORS Richard Burbage, 1568-1619 A member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men from 1594, a close collaborator with Shakespeare, and a frequent player in his plays William Ben Shakespeare Jonson William Kemp, 1585-1603 A prominent comic actor in Shakespeare’s company in 1590s

Robert Armin, 1563-1615 A writer and comic actor in Christopher John Shakespeare’s company who Marlowe Fletcher most notably portrayed the wise fools TH

17 CENTURY1642-1660 1660 Interregnum, Restoration period, when period when theatre going became a public theatres fashionable and social were closed experience

POPULAR TYPES OF PLAYS

HEROIC DRAMA PATHETIC TRAGEDY RESTORATION COMEDY (The Conquest of Granada (The Orphan (The Country Wife by John Dryden) by ) by William Wycherly)

INNOVATION Special effects on stage became increasingly technical with the introduction of scenery and elaborate machinery

FEMALE PLAYWRIGHTS GAINED RECOGNITION

Aphra Mary Catherine Susannah Behn Pix Trotter Centlivre

MALE PLAYWRIGHTS

William George Thomas William George Wycherly Etherege Otway Congreve Farquhar TH 18 1737 CENTURY The Licensing Act passes and enables Prime Minister and Lord Chamberlain to review and censor plays

POPULAR TYPES OF PLAYS

SENTIMENTAL COMEDIES BALLAD OPERAS (The London Merchant by (The Beggar’s Opera by George Lillo) John Gay)

NOTABLE ACTORS

1755-1831 1717 – 1779 1761-1816 Widely recognized A prominent A prominent as the first English comic actress great female actor, theatre whose acting Shakespeare manager, and style was actress, was playwright described as renowned for her who debuted as spontaneous Sarah ability to embody David a spectacular Dora and genuine Siddons her characters Garrick Richard III Jordan completely in 1741 19TH CENTURY POPULAR TYPES OF PLAYS

MELODRAMA BURLESQUE PICTORIAL DRAMA

INNOVATION

Actor-managers became 1830: the first female increasingly prominent, as actor-manager, individuals who could both run Eliza Vestris, rose to the theatres and perform in the prominence with her lead roles of productions singing and dancing

NOTABLE ACTORS

Helena Faucit Marie Bancroft Edmund Kean 1814-1898 1838-1905 1839-1921 1787-1833

A powerful actress A renowned One of the most Recognized as who focused on actor-manager influential female “the darling of the the role of the at the Lyceum managers who London stage,” he woman in all of Theatre in London, introduced the was famous for his her performances he was adored by “drawing room passion and spirit while seeking his audiences for drama” to the that suited the psychological truth many years London stage melodramatic play styles 20TH CENTURY 1922 1929 1938 1960 1968

1922: The first British radio broadcasts of Shakespeare’s plays, and All Is True (Henry VIII), were 1960: The Royal done by the BBC Shakespeare Company shortly after was created and the company later gained formed international recognition

1968: 1929: The Hollywood The 1737 Fairbanks/Pickford Licensing Act production of The was repealed by Taming of the the Theatres Act, Shrew launched which resulted in Shakespeare political, feminist, into the realm gay, community, of sound films and other types of fringe and alternative 1938: The first theatre full-length Shakespeare play on television, Julius Caesar, was broadcast by the BBC

POPULAR TYPES OF PLAYS

POST WAR DRAMA POLITICAL THEATRE EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE (Look Back in Anger (Hindle Wakes by (Not I by Samuel Beckett) by John Osborne ) Stanley Houghton)

NOTABLE ACTORS

John Gielgud 1904-2000 1907-1989 1907-1991

Described as elegant A dedicated actor on Famous for her eloquent and fastidious, he was a stage and on screen who and powerful silences “lyrical actor” who was famously transformed and her passion for social noted for his beauty of himself into the roles he issues, she was a great speech played actress with an enduring career ST 212009 2012 CENTURY

The National Theatre launched its NTLive program to live-broadcast performances in theatres to cinemas and computer screens worldwide

The World Shakespeare and Globe to Globe Festivals showcased the many translations and performance traditions into which his plays have been made

NOTABLE ACTORS

Kenneth Branagh Ralph Fiennes Ian McKellan 1960–present 1934–present 1962– present 1939–present Widely regarded as Known as one of the A former Royal An actor the top Shakespeare most significant theatre Shakespeare popular for his actor today, he performers, she has Company actor improvisational is noted for his performed with the and the titular tendencies and rich and rhythmic Royal Shakespeare character in his his “study of evil” speaking voice Company in roles such 2011 film version in the various as Ophelia, Juliet, and of characters that he Lady portrays on stage

Dobson, Michael. The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. 2nd Ed. New York: , 2015. Print. “Theatre History.” Victoria and Albert Museum. The Board of Trustees of the Victoria & Albert Museum, 2015. Web. 13 Nov. 2015. van Es, Bart. Shakespeare in Company. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print. Wells, Stanley. Great Shakespeare Actors: Burbage to Branagh. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. Print. “Judi Dench at the BAFTAs at the in London” by Caroline Bonarde Ucci. CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. “Vista de la Alhambra” by bernjan. CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. “Theatre Royal Panorama, Brighton, UK” by Ian Muttoo. CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr. oup.com/Shakespeare