Theatre History Lecture Notes Neoclassical Theatre Unit Lecture compiled by Justin Eick - Theatrical Education Group Objectives: • Students will Overview – Neoclassical Theatre expand their Neoclassicism was the dominant form Neoclassical theatre as well as the time vocabulary of of theatre in the eighteenth century. It period is characterized by its grandiosity. Neoclassical demanded decorum and rigorous The costumes and scenery were intricate theatre. adherence to the classical unities. and elaborate. The acting is • Students will characterized by large gestures and understand the Classicism is a philosophy of art and life melodrama. impact of that emphasizes order, balance and Neoclassical simplicity. Ancient Greeks were the first Dramatic unities of time, place, and theatre on great classicists - later, the Romans, action; division of plays into five acts; modern society French, English and others produced purity of genre; and the concepts of through analysis classical movements. The Restoration decorum and verisimilitude were taken of historical period marked a Neo-Classical as rules of playwriting, particularly by trends from the movement, modeled on the classics of French dramatists. period. Greece and Rome. • Students will acquire the appropriate Origins skills to The development of the French theatre principles make up what came to be accurately and had been interrupted by civil wars in the called the neoclassical ideal. consistently sixteenth and seventeenth century. perform Stability did not return until around 1625, The transition to the new ideal also Neoclassical when Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIII’s required that the theatre structure be theatre within prime minister, set out to make France altered. To set an example, Richelieu in the specific the cultural center of Europe. 1641 had the first theatre in France with historical and cultural context a proscenium arch erected in his own of the era. Richelieu believed that the French stage palace. By 1650, all of the Parisian needed drastic reform and looked to Italy public and court theatres had been for guidance. He advocated adoption of transformed into picture-frame stages of CA Theatre the proscenium stage and perspective the Italian type. Thus by the mid- Content scenery and a drama that would adhere seventeenth century, the Italian order Standards: to theoretical principles articulated in Italy had replaced the medieval heritage. during the sixteenth century. These Artistic Perception • 1.1 Genres Historical/Cultural The French word genre, meaning "type", They believed that tragedy could be Context was employed to narrowly describe written only about kings and nobles, • 3.1 theatre. The neoclassicalists recognized whereas comedy should deal with the • 3.2 only two legitimate forms of drama – middle or lower classes. Tragedy was to • 3.3 tragedy and comedy. Moreover, these be resolved with death, and comedy with two types of drama were referred to as happiness. The Neoclassic thought it Aesthetic Valuing ‘the heroic tragedy’ and ‘the comedy most important that the two forms were • 4.1 of manners.’ never to be mixed. Neoclassical Theatre Page 2 of 4 Characteristics/Ideals During this time, Neoclassical ideals The next ideals were that of Time, Place, emerged. The first ideal was Decorum, and Action. These were ideals first which deals with the behavior of introduced by Aristotle during the Greeks characters on stage. This ideal stated Golden Age over 1,000 years earlier. that the characters had to behave in a Painting depicting a manner suiting the station of life they Furthermore, Neoclassicalists thought Neoclassical Staged Play were portraying. The behavior had to be that all plays should be written in five consistent with the age, profession, sex, acts, that plays should observe the and rank of the character. A king had to unities of time (all the action should act like a king, a servant had to act like a occur within twenty-four hours), place (all servant, etc. the action should occur in the same place), and action (there should be only The next important ideal was one plot), and that the endings of plays verisimilitude, which means "true to life." should uphold “poetic justice” (that is, Neo- In fact, things that were not apparent in punish the wicked and reward the good). life like ghosts, apparitions, and classicalists supernatural events were forbidden. There were other demands, but these Consequently, situations had to ring true were most important. In addition, believed to life. Indeed, much like the modern Neoclassicalists believed that the realists, the action, location, and purpose of all drama is to teach and to that the characters had to be realistic. please. purpose of all drama is Controversy to teach and Although Richelieu and others favored It was ridiculed because, though the the aforementioned ideals, these rules unity of time had been observed, too to please. were not widely known or accepted in many events, including an entire war, France until 1636, when The Cid by had occurred within a twenty-four-hour Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) became the period. The play, unlike tragedy, ended most popular play written in France. happily because the heroine agreed to marry the man who had killed her father Despite its popularity, the play was a few hours earlier. viciously attacked because it failed to adhere to some of the neoclassical rules. This controversy is a watershed event in This controversy, which was heated and French theatre, because it effectively dragged on for some time, focused legitimized the neoclassical view. After attention in France on the neoclassical 1640, Corneille adopted the new mode, rules. which was later perfected by Jean Racine (1639-1699), especially in his Richelieu asked the recently formed Phaedra. French Academy (whose membership was restricted to the forty most eminent The tragedies of Corneille and Racine literary figures of the day) to deliver a were to set the standard for serious verdict on the play. The Academy playwriting throughout Europe until the responded with praise for the play and nineteenth century. On the European Portrait from the many of its qualities but faulted it continent, these French tragedies were, Neoclassical Era whenever it deviated from the, so-called, until around 1800, thought superior to “Neoclassical rules.” those of Shakespeare. Page 3 of 4 Neoclassical Theatre Stage Characteristics The other notable influence of the Neoclassical movement was the theatres built during this time. Teatro Olympico in Vicenza, is the oldest surviving theatre constructed during the Italian Renaissance. The Olympico was patterned after the Roman stage with curved seating, an open orchestra, and a scaena, or stage house, with a large facade. Five alleyways or entrances came from the facade. This stage was indoors and marked the creation of the proscenium arch. The proscenium-arch means "picture- frame" or peephole". This new approach to the stage also prompted a new approach to scenery design. Perspective became an important element to renaissance painting, and the new taste in art carried to the stage. A Model of a Neoclassical Stage Although large sets were constructed, most were painted backdrops. Scene shifting was advanced with the wing and groove The Neoclassicalists emphasized And, since the theatres were now idea and the invention of the pole spectacle in production and devised indoors, stage lighting was now and chariot shifting system. Sets several ingenious special effects like needed. Candles were placed as could then be changed magically "a flying machines called "glories", footlights along the front of the stage vista" or in full view of the trapdoors, and sound effect and up the sides of the proscenium. audience. Torelli (1608–1678) was machines to create thunder, rain, or The "house" or audience area was the creator of this shifting method. wind. lit as well with large chandeliers. The greatest, or most popular playwright was undoubtedly Jean-Baptiste Poquelin or Moliere (1622–1673) (see portrait to the right) Moliere's Comedies were popular among all classes, depending on whom the subject matter happened to be about. Furthermore, Moliere insisted on truthfully depicting the vices and follies of all people. He used the same keen eye for human foibles that many standup comics use to create memorable characters. His comedies have elements of commedia, but are more realistic than the stereotyped characters of commedia. Moliere, unlike Shakespeare, has enjoyed a larger following after his death. He was popular, but did not enjoy the economic success of Shakespeare. Neoclassical Theatre Page 4 of 4 Timeline Significant Artists/Works Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) Jean Racine (1639-1699) 1610 -1643, Reign of Mélite, 1629 La Thébaïde, 1664 Louis XIII 'Illusion comique, 1636 Alexandre le Grand, 1665 - Power is wielded by Médée, 1635 Andromaque, 1667 Cardinal Richelieu 1625 French theatre le Cid, 1637 Les Plaideurs, 1668 somewhat established Horace, 1640 Britannicus, 1669 1629 The Academie Cinna, 1641 Bérénice, 1670 Française established Le Menteur, 1643 Bajazet, 1672 by Richelieu, to institute Mithridate, 1673 the regulation in the arts Moliere (1622–1673) Iphigénie, 1674 - An acting company is The School for Wives, 1662 Phèdre, 1677 permitted to perform in The Impostor, (Tartuffe), 1664 Paris Don Juan, 1665 - A second troupe Théâtre du Marais presents The Misanthrope, 1666 Corneille’s Melite Tartuffe, (revised),1667 1634 Mairet’s Sophonisba The Miser, 1668 first tragedy to observe George Dandin,