Shakespeare theatre
‘Theatre of 21st Century should be looking forward not back’ discuss this statement in relation to the play you have seen in performance with references to its original performance conditions.
The experience of theatre now is comparatively new and modern to the Shakespearean theatre as theatre has changed to reflect its time period. In order to create any theatre it is vital to ‘look back’ in order to see what came before and regain some of what made theatre entertaining. However, it is essential to look forward as we will therefore be keeping a consistency on the time era, as theatre today is far more realistic and a psychologically connected experience in comparison to old Shakespearean theatre.
In its original performance conditions ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was presented in the open arena of the amphitheatre which is known as the ‘pit’ or ‘yard’ which consisted of a raised stage at one end which was surrounded by three tiers of roofed galleries with balconies overlooking the back of the stage. Theatre was performed in daylight whereas in 21st Century theatre plays are shown during the day and night, although they did not have lighting back then so therefore had no choice but to use natural lighting which makes the focus more upon their acting, hence why Shakespeare used such descriptive language for his plays. It is performed on a simple thrust stage of an Elizabethan playhouse where the audience would surround the actors horizontally and vertically. However, most people associated Elizabethan theatres with those built in a similar style to the Globe theatre which is also an amphitheatre. In today’s theatre, rather than the audience surrounding the actors, there is a defined barrier between the space and the actors. Elizabethan theatre did not include scenery and only a minimum of props were used, this enabled the audience to make more use of their imagination and focus solely on the evocative language and acting of the play. Whereas in today’s theatre
The experience of theatre now is comparatively new and modern to the Shakespearean theatre as theatre has changed to reflect its time period. In order to create any theatre it is vital to ‘look back’ in order to see what came before and regain some of what made theatre entertaining. However, it is essential to look forward as we will therefore be keeping a consistency on the time era, as theatre today is far more realistic and a psychologically connected experience in comparison to old Shakespearean theatre.
In its original performance conditions ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was presented in the open arena of the amphitheatre which is known as the ‘pit’ or ‘yard’ which consisted of a raised stage at one end which was surrounded by three tiers of roofed galleries with balconies overlooking the back of the stage. Theatre was performed in daylight whereas in 21st Century theatre plays are shown during the day and night, although they did not have lighting back then so therefore had no choice but to use natural lighting which makes the focus more upon their acting, hence why Shakespeare used such descriptive language for his plays. It is performed on a simple thrust stage of an Elizabethan playhouse where the audience would surround the actors horizontally and vertically. However, most people associated Elizabethan theatres with those built in a similar style to the Globe theatre which is also an amphitheatre. In today’s theatre, rather than the audience surrounding the actors, there is a defined barrier between the space and the actors. Elizabethan theatre did not include scenery and only a minimum of props were used, this enabled the audience to make more use of their imagination and focus solely on the evocative language and acting of the play. Whereas in today’s theatre