1. Chapter 13

2.  Background:
England in the Seventeenth Century
 The Restoration: from 1660 to 1700
 Charles II assumed the throne at
the invitation of the Parliament
 Exiled English nobility
returned from France,
bringing with them
French theatrical
practices
Actress Nell Gwynn with Charles II
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3.  Restoration
Drama:
 Theatres represented a fusion of Elizabethan,
Italian, and French stage conventions
 Gave a unique flavor to every aspect: texts,
theatre buildings, and set designs
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4. 
Restoration Drama: Comedies of Manners continued
▪ Comedies of manners – form of comic drama that
became popular in 17th century France and English
Restoration that poked fun at the social conventions
of the upper class. They emphasized a cultivated or
sophisticated atmosphere and witty dialogue
▪ Most of the upper-class characters were
disreputable
▪ Emphasized witty dialogue
▪ Filled with sexual intrigue and innuendo
▪ Audiences: primarily the nobility and the upper class
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5. 
Restoration Drama:
▪ Dramatic structure combined features of
Elizabethan theater and Neoclassical theater of Italy
and France
▪ William Wycherley’s The Country Wife –
 More unified in action than Shakespeare and less scene
changes but does have subplots and multiple locales
 Stock characters with names that describe their traits
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6. 
Restoration Drama:
▪ Comedies of Humors
▪ In tradition of Ben Jonson with one trait overshadowing all
others
▪ Comedies of Intrigue
▪ daring exploits of romance and adventure with complicated
plots
▪ Aphra Behn – most successful writer of this genre – a
woman
▪ Female playwrights emerged
▪ 1695-96 – London saw productions by 7 female playwrights
▪ Three women very active during this time: Mary Pix, Delariviere
Manley and Catherine Trotter
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7. 
Restoration Drama:
▪ William Congreve’s The Way of the World
▪ Considered bridge between Restoration comedy and the
later, more traditional morality of 18th century English
sentimental comedy
▪ Restoration comedies imply that audiences were
quite spirited, not like audiences of today
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8.  Theatre
Production in the Restoration
 Performers and Acting Companies
▪ Biggest difference between English Renaissance
and Restoration was women appeared in plays
▪ Performers were hired for a specific period of time
at a set salary, instead of sharing plans of before
▪ Yearly benefit: performance of a play from which he or she
kept all the profits
▪ Theatrical entrepreneurs: often part owners of
theatre buildings and companies
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9.  Theatre
continued
Production in the Restoration
 Government and Theatre
▪ 1660, Charles II issued patents to two
entrepreneurs, and a monopoly on presenting
theatre in London was established
▪ 1737, Parliament passed the Licensing Act, a new
attempt to regulate theatre
▪ Only two theatres were authorized to present drama for
“gain, hire, or reward”
▪ The lord chamberlain became responsible for licensing plays
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10.  Theatre
Production in the Restoration
continued
 Theatre Architecture
▪ Three theatres of note in London
▪ Drury Lane
▪ Dorset Garden
▪ Lincoln Inn Fields (converted tennis
court)
▪ All three showed a unique fusion of
Italian and Elizabethan features
William and Mary Crowned
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11.  Theatre
continued
Production in the Restoration
 All Restoration Theaters:
▪ were indoor, proscenium-arch buildings
▪ divided audience into pit, boxes and galleries
▪ could seat about 650
▪ had a raked pit with backless benches
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12.  Theatre
continued
Production in the Restoration
 Restoration Theaters unusual because:
▪ Divided proscenium-arch into two halves; one half
behind the arch (like Italians) and other half in front
(thrust stage) (like English)
▪ Entire stage was raked to improve sight lines
▪ Had proscenium doors to the side of the stage with
balconies above them for “concealment” scenes
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13.  Theatre
Production in the Restoration
continued
 Scenery, Lighting, and Costumes also illustrate a
fusion of Italian and English stage practices
 Basic components
▪ Wings
▪ Shutters (sometimes replaced by rolled backdrops)
▪ Borders for masking
 Groove system most often used for changing
scenes (borrowed from Italians)
 Lighting was natural and candle
 Costumes were contemporary clothing
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13

14.  Background:
A More Complex World
 The 18th century was a time of transition
 Western Europe prospered more than ever
before
 Called the Age of Enlightenment
 Complexity of society mirrored in an extremely
complex theatre
 The arts dominated by the baroque style
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15.  Eighteenth-Century
Drama:
New Dramatic Forms
GOLDONI VERSUS GOZZI
In the middle of the 18 th century, two Italian dramatists, Carol Goldoni and Carlo Gozzi, took different approaches in
adapting Italian commedia dell’arte to a more modern form. Goldoni wanted drama to be more realistic. Gozzi
wanted it to more fanciful. Seen here is a scene from Goldoni’s La Locandiera (the Mistress of the Inn) presented in
Lyon, France.
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16.  Eighteenth-Century
Drama:
New Dramatic Forms continued
 Drame – 18th century French term usually denoting
aserious drama that dealt with middle-class
characters
▪ A new French form
▪ Examples: Bourgeois tragedy and domestic tragedy
▪ The virtuous were rewarded and the wicked
punished
▪ By the end of the century, was being written in
France, Germany, and England
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17.  Eighteenth-Century
Drama:
New Dramatic Forms continued
 Satirical ballad opera –18th century English
dramatic form that burlesqued (satirized)
opera
 Sentimental comedy – 18th century from that
was like Restoration comedy, in that it was a
comedy of manners, except reaffirmed middle
class morality and focused on morality rather
than laughter
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18.  Eighteenth-Century
Drama:
New Dramatic Forms continued
 In late 18th century, many German playwrights
revolted against the neoclassical ideals
 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was a leader in
storm and stress – an antineoclassical 18th
century German movement that was a
forerunner of romanticism; in German Sturm
and Drang
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19.  Theatre
Production in the Eighteenth
Century
 Government and Theatre
▪ Government attempted to regulate theatre
▪ England: the Licensing Act
▪ France: restricted what types of plays could be produced,
and granted monopolies to certain theatres
▪ Germany: more positive intervention; subsidized theatres in
several German states
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20.  Theatre
Production in the Eighteenth
Century continued
 Eighteenth-Century Theatre Architecture
▪ Theatres became larger to accommodate the new
middle-class audiences
▪ Egg-shaped interiors improved sight lines
▪ Theatre building proliferated throughout Europe
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21.  Theatre
Production in the Eighteenth
Century continued
 Scenery, Lighting, and Costumes
▪ Italy produced many scenic innovations
▪ Bibiena family—for nearly 100 years, the most
influential Italian designers and theatre architects
▪ Angular or multipoint perspective
▪ Designs were grandiose, lavish, and ornate
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22. THE THEATRE AT DROTTNINGHOLM, SWEDEN
This theatre still has the sets and stage machinery that were used when it was built as a court playhouse in the
18th century. It is an excellent example of an Italian proscenium theatre with the pole and chariot system for
changing scenery.
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23. Multi-point scenic perspective by By Giuseppe Galli Bibiena (1690 - 1756)
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24.  Theatre
Production in the Eighteenth
Century continued
 Additional elements sometimes seen in scenic
design:
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Borders at the top
Ground rows (cut-outs along stage floor)
Large scenic cut-outs (like painted trees)
Rolled back drops
Act drops (curtains at the front of the stage)
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25.  Theatre
Production in the Eighteenth
Century continued
 18th century Italian designers are also said to
have introduced the box set – interior setting
using flats to form the back and side walls and
often the ceilings of a room
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26.  Theatre
Production in the Eighteenth
Century continued
 In late 17th century innovations and
experiments in lighting including:
▪ Masking the lighting source
▪ Using silk screens for coloring
▪ Replacing candles with oil lamps
 Unlike scenery and lighting, theatrical
costuming remained underdeveloped through
most of the 18th century
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27.  Theatre
Production in the Eighteenth
Century continued
 Acting in the Eighteenth Century
 Glorification of star performers
 Bombastic approach predominant
▪ Emphasis on the performer’s oratorical skills
▪ Lines often addressed to audience rather than other
characters
▪ Limited rehearsal time; thus, standardized patterns of
movement
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28.  Theatre
Production in the Eighteenth
Century continued
 The Emergence of the Director
▪ Playwrights and leading performers doubled as
directors
▪ Forerunners of the modern stage director
▪ English actor David Garrick
▪ German playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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29.  Theatre
Production in the Eighteenth
Century continued
 The Emergence of the Director cont’d
▪ David Garrick
 Management partner at Drury Lane
 Responsible for all artistic decisions
 Championed more natural style of acting
 Argued for careful development of character’s individual
traits, thorough research and preparation
 Rehearsals were extended
 Actors must be on time, know their lines and act in
rehearsal
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30.  The Emergence of the Director cont’d
▪ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 Famous author and asked to oversee Court Theater
Weimar in Germany
 A regisseur – European director; often denotes a
dictatorial director
 Long rehearsal period; actors work as an ensemble
 Rules for stage movement and vocal technique
 Rules for actors personal lives and audience
 Did not advocate natural acting style; actors should speak
facing audience and had routine blocking patterns
 Believed in historical accuracy in costumes and sets
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31.  Background:
A Time of Social Change
 Major social changes between 1800 and 1875
▪ The Industrial Revolution
▪ The rise of nationalism
▪ Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859)
▪ Karl Marx’s Das Kapital (1867)
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32.  Theatre
in Nineteenth-Century Life
 Working and middle-class urban people
demanded theatre
 Theatre was a true popular entertainment that
attracted huge numbers of spectators
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33.  Theatre
in Nineteenth-Century Life
continued
 Other popular nonliterary forms of
entertainment:
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Minstrel show
Burlesque
Variety
Circus
Wild west shows
Medicine shows
During the 19th century, a number of highly theatrical popular entertainments
developed. Among those was the circus. The American entrepreneur P.T.
Barnum was a significant innovator in developing the circus as we know it
today. Seen here are females trapeze artists performing in 1890.
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34.  Theatre
in Nineteenth-Century Life
continued
 More and larger playhouses were constructed
 Theatre riots
▪ “Old Price Riots” in London’s
Covent Garden Theatre
▪ New York’s Astor Place
Theatre in Manhattan
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35.  Nineteenth-Century
Dramatic Forms
 Romanticism – movement of the 19th century that
sought to free the artist from rules and considered
unfettered inspiration the source of all creativity
▪ A revolutionary literary trend
▪ Influenced by the German “storm and stress”
movement
▪ Most noted dramas:
▪ Goethe’s Faust
▪ Victor Hugo’s Hernani
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36.  Nineteenth-Century
Dramatic Forms
 Romanticism
▪ Rejected all artistic rules; genius creates its own
rules
▪ Plays were episodic and epic in scope
▪ Often interested in creating mood and atmosphere
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37. 
Nineteenth-Century Dramatic Forms continued
 Melodrama – dramatic form, made popular in the 19th
century, which emphasized action and spectacular effects and
also used music; it had stock characters and clearly defined
villains and heroes
▪ Means “song drama” or “music drama”
▪ Emphasis was on surface effects to evoke suspense,
fear, nostalgia, and other strong emotions
▪ Conflict clearly established, as was the contrast
between heroes and villains; virtuous was always
victorious
▪ Suspenseful plots, with climactic moment at the end
of each act
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38. 
Nineteenth-Century Dramatic Forms continued
 The Well-Made Play – dramatic form popular in
the 19th century and early 20th century that combined
apparent plausibility of incident (could possibly
happen) and surface realism with a tightly
constructed plot
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39. 
Nineteenth-Century Dramatic Forms
continued
 The Well-Made Play continued
▪ Tightly constructed cause-and-effect development
▪ Action revolves around a secret known to the audience but not
to the characters (dramatic irony)
▪ Opening scene includes exposition – imparting of information
necessary for an understanding of the story but not covered by the
action onstage; events or knowledge from the past, or occurring
outside the play, which must be introduced so that the audience will
understand the characters or plot
▪ Clear foreshadowing, and each act builds to a climax
▪ Opposing characters confront each other in a showdown in a
major scene known as the “obligatory scene”
▪ Plot carefully resolved; no loose ends
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40.  Theatre
Production in the Nineteenth
Century
 Performers and Acting
▪ An era of great stars idolized by audiences
▪ Some were not only national but global figures
▪ Traditional repertory company gradually
disappeared
▪ Combination companies began to tour widely
▪ Long runs became more common
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41. EDWIN BOOTH
An outstanding actor of the 19th century was Edwin Booth, famous for his portrayal of Hamlet, shown here, and other
Shakespearean characters, as well as for building his own theatre. As a performer, he was renowned for depth of
character, grace and freedom from mannerisms. In an age of stage posturing, he took a more natural approach to his
roles.
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42.  Theatre
Production in the Nineteenth
Century continued
 Nineteenth-Century Developments in Directing
▪ More emphasis on:
▪
▪
▪
▪
Creating a unified stage picture
More time for rehearsal
More attention to production details
Historical accuracy in scenery and costuming
▪ Key figures:
▪ Richard Wagner
▪ George II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
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43.  Theatre
Production in the Nineteenth
Century continued
▪ Richard Wagner
▪ Gesamtkunstwerk – Wagner’s theory of a unified work of
theatrical art, controlled by one person
▪ His innovations for increasing stage illusion are important:
 Musicians forbidden to tune their instruments in the
orchestra pit
 Audiences not to applaud during the presentation
▪ Credited with being the first director to extinguish house
lights
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44.  Theatre
Production in the Nineteenth
Century continued
▪ George II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
▪ Between 1871-1890 made the Meiningen Players the most
renowned company in the world
▪ Revolutionized stage production:
 Rehearsed for extensive periods of time, refusing to opn a
show until he believed it was ready
 Opposed to the star system and hired young actors
 Famous for intricately planned crowd scenes
 Admired for his historically accurate sets and costumes
 Because his company toured frequently, his innovations
became well know throughout Europe
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44

45.  Theatre
Production in the Nineteenth
Century continued
 Nineteenth-Century Theatre Architecture
▪ First half of century: many playhouses enlarged to
meet demand of lower-class urban audiences
▪ Second half of century: less construction of huge
theatres
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46.  Theatre
Production in the Nineteenth
Century continued
 Nineteenth-Century Theatre Architecture
▪ The Booth Theatre:
▪ completed in 1869 for Edwin Booth (renowned
Shakespearean actor)
▪ Cited as being the 1st modern theater in NY
▪ Instead of pit and gallery, had a modern orchestra area,
balconies, and individual armchairs as seats
▪ Stage was revolutionary:
 Scenery could be raised from basement or lowered from
above (“flown in”)
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47.  Theatre
Production in the Nineteenth
Century continued
 Nineteenth-Century Theatre Architecture
▪ Bayreuth Festspielhaus:
▪ Built for Richard Wagner, opened in 1876
▪ 1300 individual seats in thirty raked rows
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48. NINETEENTH CENTURY THEATRE ARCHITECTURE
Significant changes took place in theatre architecture during the 1800s. This illustration of Covent Garden in
London shows a typical “pit, box, and gallery theatre of the era.
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48

49. This photograph of Wagner’s Bayreuth Festspielhaus, shows that by 1876 significant transformations were
occurring. Wagner’s theatre is much more like a modern proscenium theatre, with comfortable seating in the
orchestra area, a small balcony and a sunken orchestra pit.
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49

50.  Theatre
Production in the Nineteenth
Century continued
 Scenery, Costumes, and Lighting
 More emphasis on historically accurate productions
 Box set: flats are cleated together at angles to form
walls of a three-dimensional room
 Elevator stage: allows sections of a stage floor, or even
an entire floor, to be raised or lowered
 Revolving stage: a large turntable on which scenery is
placed; as it turns, one set turns out of sight and another
is brought into view
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50

51. 1 million dollar revolving stage from “Lord of the Rings” musical in England.
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52.  Theatre
Production in the Nineteenth
Century continued
 Scenery, Costumes, and Lighting
 Stage Lighting Revolutionized in 19th Century
 1816, Philadelphia’s Chestnut Street Theater (my home
town!) became world’s first playhouse to be entirely gaslit
 Gaslight allowed intensity of light to be controlled in all parts of the
theater
 By 1850, “gas table” invented (like modern day dimmer
board)
 1879, Thomas Edison’s incandescent lamp
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