Lesson One. (Jacobean Theatre) // Lesson Two. (Acting Styles and Conventions)

Unit 4.

-Externally Assessed.
-2 Hours 30 Mins.
-Sections A B C.

Section C will be focused on through the study of 16th and 17th century theatre, we will be comparing this to modern day theatre.

Lesson One - Jacobean Theatre.

Jacobean Theatre. (Indoor)
Everything done by candlelight.
During the Jacobean era more and more performances were beginning to take place inside. (Making performances available all year round rather than just a summer thing when the weather was good).
In 1608, thanks to the growing popularity with James I and the corresponding disgrace of the boy players whose satirical performances had outraged the king.
The Globe was used during the summer and the Blackfriars was used during the winter.
At the Blackfriars the audience was small but capable of paying the sixpenny fee for a decent seat.
The Globe however had a much larger crowd of potentially 3000, the required fee was a minimum of a penny.
Some scholars believe there was a special Blackfriars repertory, with playwrights devising their plays specifically for the indoor space, but others disagree.
Professional theatres were a recent innovation in Jacobean London and plays had to be versatile, fit for performance anywhere.
Duchess of Malfi was put on at the Blackfriars.
Webster might have expected a more attentive and discerning audience.
Critics of the time regarded a trip to the Blackfriars as an excuse to admire women in their finery and to show off his own cloak and suit.
Most expensive seats at the Blackfriars were on the stage itself.
TDoM is full of "ridiculous small props including a severed hand and a poisoned book."
The most expensive seats at the Blackfriars (right and left of the stage and on the stage itself) might have given members of the audience sat in these seats glimpses of whispered conspiracies and underhand dealings that others couldn't see.
Candles were used in the first indoor theatres.
The name Blackfriars refers to two successive theatres, the 1st was established on the grounds of what was the Blackfriars Dominican monastery in 1576.
In 1596 James Burbage bought the lease to a different part of the Blackfriars priory with the intention of building an indoor playhouse.
Even King Charles I's Queen Henrietta Maria attended performances at this new, classy establishment.

Lesson Two - Acting Styles and Conventions.

Towards the end of Elizabeth's reign the plays were becoming more edgy and human situations were becoming more exaggerated.
Extreme violence was being portrayed on the stage.
Actors began to focus on the use of hand gestures to signify and communicate meaning to an audience, this style of acting was called 'gestic'.
One of the main focuses when preparing for the performance is the physical environment, the major task of the performance was to activate the whole playhouse (bring it to life).
There became more of a focus on presenting characters to the audience rather than telling the story.
This technique was called 'personate' and is perhaps an early form of Stanislavski's ideas.
The aim now was to try and engage with the audience and the character you were playing.
Soliloquy - The speaking of inner thoughts out loud. (Thought track)