The English Renaissance and NOT Shakespeare: Crash Course Theater #13
Summary
TLDRThis script from Crash Course Theater explores the theater of Renaissance England, predating Shakespeare's era. It delves into the historical context, the development of English playhouses, and early playwrights. The video discusses the influence of morality plays and the emergence of professional actors, highlighting significant works like 'Ralph Roister Doister' and 'The Tragedie of Gorboduc.' It also covers the evolution of playhouses, from makeshift venues to permanent structures like The Theatre and the Globe, and introduces the University Wits, who paved the way for Shakespeare's dramatic legacy.
Takeaways
- 🎭 The Renaissance in England arrived much later than in Italy, about 150 years late, due to England's preoccupation with the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of the Roses.
- 👑 The Tudor dynasty played a significant role in promoting theater, with Henry VIII establishing an Office of the Revels to manage court entertainments.
- 🚫 Elizabeth I imposed restrictions on theater, including a ban on religious and political plays and classifying actors as vagabonds, which led to troupes associating with nobility for protection.
- 🎭 Early English Renaissance plays were influenced by classical works and morality plays but had a more episodic structure compared to the neoclassicism of Italy and France.
- 📚 'Ralph Roister Doister' and 'Gammer Gurton’s Needle' are examples of early vernacular comedies that predate the licensing of actors.
- 👑 'Cambises' and 'The Tragedie of Gorboduc' are early examples of mixed-genre plays and tragedies in English Renaissance theater, with the latter having parallels to 'King Lear'.
- 🏟️ Before the construction of permanent theaters, plays were performed in various spaces like gardens, banquet halls, and schools.
- 🦌 The Theatre, built by James Burbage in 1576, was an important Elizabethan playhouse that later became the Globe after a dispute with the landlord.
- 🍿 Public theaters were open-air and could accommodate a diverse audience, while indoor theaters like Blackfriars Theatre catered to a more affluent crowd.
- 👦 The absence of women on stage led to boys playing female roles, and stage settings were simple, relying on hanging cloths and props.
- 📝 The University Wits, including Thomas Kyd, John Lyly, Robert Greene, and Christopher Marlowe, were influential playwrights whose work laid the groundwork for Shakespeare's success.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the Crash Course Theater video script?
-The main focus of the script is to explore the theater of Renaissance England, including its historical context, the English playhouse, and early plays and playwrights, with an emphasis on discussing aspects that existed independently of Shakespeare.
Why did the Renaissance arrive late in England compared to Italy?
-The Renaissance arrived late in England due to the country being involved in the Hundred Years’ War with France and the Wars of the Roses, which caused instability and delayed the cultural and intellectual developments that characterized the Renaissance in Italy.
What role did the Tudor dynasty play in the development of theater in England?
-The Tudor dynasty, particularly Henry VII and Henry VIII, played a significant role by supporting and promoting theater. They established an Office of the Revels and encouraged court entertainments, which helped theater to flourish during their reign.
What was the impact of Elizabeth I's crackdown on religious and political plays?
-Elizabeth I's crackdown on religious and political plays ended the cycle plays and pushed theater in new, more innovative directions. It also led to the professionalization of actors, who had to team up with nobility and license themselves under noble names to avoid fines.
What are some characteristics of the earliest plays of the English Renaissance?
-The earliest plays of the English Renaissance were comedies written in vernacular English, influenced by the works of Plautus and Terence, as well as morality plays and medieval farces. They were often looser and more episodic compared to the neoclassicism that was popular in Italy and France.
Who wrote 'Ralph Roister Doister' and what is it about?
-'Ralph Roister Doister' was written by Nicholas Udall in the 1540s. It tells the story of a braggart character, Ralph, who falls in love with a virtuous widow, Christian Custance, and faces various comedic misadventures in his attempts to win her over.
What is the significance of 'The Tragedie of Gorboduc' in English Renaissance theater?
-'The Tragedie of Gorboduc' is significant as it is the first tragedy on an English subject, written in blank verse, and influenced by both Seneca and elements of morality plays. It was first performed in 1561 and is considered a precursor to plays like 'King Lear'.
Why were permanent theaters not initially built in the City of London?
-Permanent theaters were not initially built in the City of London because there was a belief that play-going spread plague. Plays and players were essentially outlawed in the city proper by the 1570s.
What was unique about the design of The Theatre built by James Burbage?
-The Theatre was designed with a three-level gallery structure surrounding a thrust stage and an open space in the middle for penny-paying ticket holders. It borrowed its design from inn yards or bear-baiting pits, reflecting the entertainment options of the time.
What is the significance of the Blackfriars Theatre in the context of English Renaissance theater?
-The Blackfriars Theatre was significant as the first indoor, private theater, catering to a more upscale audience. It seated about 750 people and was known for hosting plays that were considered wittier and more sophisticated.
Who were the University Wits and how did they contribute to English Renaissance theater?
-The University Wits were a group of playwrights who attended Oxford or Cambridge and wrote sophisticated plays for both adult actors and child laborers. They improved upon early dramas, making them more true to life, lively, and full of poetry, thus paving the way for Shakespeare.
Outlines
🎭 Introduction to Renaissance English Theater
The script begins by introducing Mike Rugnetta and the topic of Renaissance English theater, which predates Shakespeare. It explains that there were many plays, playwrights, and theater troupes that existed independently of Shakespeare's influence. The script discusses the historical context, including the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of the Roses, which delayed the Renaissance's arrival in England. The Tudor era is highlighted for its support of theater, with Henry VIII establishing an Office of the Revels. The script also touches on the challenges faced by actors, such as being classified as vagabonds and the need to align with nobility for protection. It mentions the shift in theater direction due to crackdowns on certain types of plays and the professionalization of actors. Early plays like 'Ralph Roister Doister' and 'Gammer Gurton’s Needle' are introduced, with their comedic and episodic nature, drawing from various influences including morality plays and classical works.
🏛 The Development of English Playhouses and Playwriting
This paragraph delves into the evolution of English playhouses, starting with the makeshift venues such as gardens and banquet halls, and leading up to the construction of permanent structures like the Red Lion and The Theatre. It discusses the societal beliefs that led to plays being outlawed in the City of London due to fears of spreading plague. The Theatre, built by James Burbage, is highlighted for its design inspired by inn yards and its association with the Lord Admiral’s Men. The paragraph also covers the transition of The Theatre into the Globe after a dispute with the landlord. The open-air nature of these theaters, their capacity, and the diverse audience they attracted are mentioned. The introduction of indoor, private theaters like Blackfriars Theatre is also covered, along with the rise of the University Wits, a group of playwrights who contributed to the sophistication of English drama, including Thomas Kyd, John Lyly, Robert Greene, and Christopher Marlowe.
📜 The Influence of University Wits and the Anticipation of Shakespeare
The final paragraph focuses on the impact of the University Wits, particularly Christopher Marlowe, whose work heavily influenced Shakespeare. It provides a brief overview of the Wits, mentioning Thomas Kyd's 'The Spanish Tragedy,' John Lyly's pastorals, Robert Greene's 'Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay,' and Christopher Marlowe's ambitious characters and vivid blank verse. The paragraph emphasizes the theatrical culture that existed before Shakespeare, characterized by professional troupes, competing theaters, and enthusiastic audiences. It sets the stage for a deeper exploration of Shakespeare in the next episodes, reminding us that he did not emerge in a vacuum but rather built upon an already thriving theatrical tradition.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Renaissance England
💡Hundred Years' War
💡Wars of the Roses
💡Tudors
💡Master of Revels
💡Cycle plays
💡The Lord Chamberlain’s Men
💡Neoclassicism
💡Blank verse
💡Red Lion
💡University Wits
Highlights
The Renaissance in England arrived significantly later than in Italy, influenced by the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of the Roses.
The Tudors' reign brought stability and a surge in humanism, the scientific method, and madrigals, with a strong royal patronage for theater.
Henry VIII established the Office of the Revels, managed by a Master of Revels for arranging plays and masques.
Religious and political plays were restricted under Elizabeth I to prevent religious discord.
Actors faced legal challenges, being classified as vagabonds and fined for traveling between towns.
Actors formed troupes and licensed themselves under noble patronage, such as The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
Early English Renaissance plays were influenced by classical works but were more episodic and less neoclassical than those on the continent.
Nicholas Udall's 'Ralph Roister Doister' is among the earliest comedies of the English Renaissance, featuring a braggart character.
‘Gammer Gurton’s Needle’ is an early play known for its humor derived from bodily harm.
‘Cambises’ is an early play with an episodic structure and a mix of genres, including tragedy and comedy.
‘The Tragedie of Gorboduc’ is the first English tragedy on a national subject, influenced by Seneca and morality plays.
Early plays were performed in various spaces like gardens and banquet halls before the construction of permanent theaters.
The Theatre, built by James Burbage in 1576, was one of the first permanent playhouses in England.
The Globe Theatre was created after a dispute led to the dismantling and relocation of The Theatre.
Blackfriars Theatre was an indoor, private theater that catered to a more affluent audience.
The University Wits, a group of playwrights educated at Oxford or Cambridge, contributed to the sophistication of English drama.
Christopher Marlowe's plays, known for their ambitious characters and blank verse, had a significant influence on Shakespeare.
Transcripts
Hey there, I’m Mike Rugnetta, this is Crash Course Theater, and today we’re taking on
the theater of Renaissance England.
Which means Shakespeare, right?
Wrong, unfortunately.
It’ll be a bit before we know of poor Yorick.
Get thee to the ceiling, pal.
Believe it or not, there are Renaissance English plays and playwrights and theaters and troupes
that existed totally independent of Shakespeare.
Well, mostly independent of Shakespeare.
Today we’ll discuss historical context, introduce the English playhouse, and meet
some early plays and playwrights.
And we’re not going to talk about Shakespeare!
Not at all.
It’s gonna be much ado about something… else.
INTRO The Renaissance arrives in England…
late.
Really late.
Like 150 years later than Italy-late.
Why?
Well, there are a bunch of reasons, but mostly England spent a lot of the late Middle Ages
embroiled in the Hundred Years’ War with France, which obviously lasted one hundred
and sixteen years, and then thirty two more years fighting the Wars of the Roses, a series
of civil wars for control of England, which involved far fewer actual roses than you may
expect.
Once the Tudors took the throne, things got more stable.
Humanism and the scientific method and madrigals really took off.
The Tudors liked theater.
Like, really liked it a lot.
Henry VII, the first Tudor king, paid for court entertainments.
His son Henry VIII, the one with all the wives, established an independent Office of the Revels,
managed by a Master of Revels whose job it was to arrange plays and masques for the nobility.
There were definitely some plays the Tudors didn’t like.
England had been Catholic and then Protestant and then Catholic and then Protestant again,
and sometimes plays could be used to fan the flames of religious discord.
So in 1558, Henry’s daughter Elizabeth I cracked down on religious and political plays.
This pretty much ended the cycle plays.
She also passed a law classifying actors as vagrants who could be fined for going from
town to town.
The solution?
Troupes of actors hooked up with nobility and licensed themselves as servants under
names like The Lord Chamberlain’s Men and The Lord Admiral’s Men.
Jeez, actors just throughout history, just CANNOT catch a break, huh?
If these laws seem restrictive, they are!
But the crackdown on the cycle plays pushed the theater in new and more innovative directions,
while that whole vagrancy thing encouraged actors to professionalize.
The earliest plays of the English Renaissance predate all this licensing and vagrancy.
Two of the first English Renaissance plays were comedies written in vernacular English.
They were modeled on the work of, surprise surprise, Plautus and Terence!
But morality plays were an obvious influence, too, and maybe also medieval farces.
Neoclassicism didn’t catch on in England the way it did in Italy and in France, so
these English plays tend to be looser and more episodic.
The earliest one is “Ralph Roister Doister,” which was written in the 1540s by a schoolmaster
named Nicholas Udall.
The title character is a braggy dolt, kind of like the Captain from the commedia dell-arte.
He falls in love with a virtuous widow, Christian Custance, and tries to win her over, while
egged on by Matthew Merrygreeke, a clever trickster type who owes a lot to the Vice
character from the morality plays.
Ralph gets tricked, beaten, and a rape almost happens.
But then the widow marries her rich, honorable suitor, Gawyn Goodluck, and it all ends happily.
Another early play is “Gammer Gurton’s Needle” by an unknown author.
It was first performed in the early 1560s, and it also derives most of its humor from
bodily harm.
Gammer Gurton has lost her sewing needle.
Diccon of Bedlam, a wandering fool and another Vice type, tries to stir up trouble by claiming
that her next door neighbor, Dame Chat, took it.
Everyone gets beaten up, including a curate–which is sorta like a priests assistant–and the
needle is discovered when a servant is stabbed in the butt.
Hilarious!
It was a simpler time, ok?
Wiseguy eh?!
I’m sorry,
Another early play tried to be all genres to all spectators.
It was called “Cambises” for short.
Why “for short” you may ask?
Well the full title goes: “A lamentable tragedy mixed ful of pleasant mirth, conteyning
the life of CAMBISES King of PERCIA, from the beginning of his kingdome unto his death,
his one good deed of execution, after that many wicked deeds and tirannous murders, committed
by and through him, and last of all, his odious death by Gods Justice appointed, Doon in such
order as foloweth.”
I’d love to see the poster for that one.
It was written by the schoolmaster Thomas Preston and mostly likely performed sometime
in the 1560s.
The episodic structure and the focus on good versus evil link it closely with morality
plays, but also history plays.
The first tragedy on an English subject is “The Tragedie of Gorboduc,” a play by
Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville, first performed in 1561.
Because it’s a tragedy, Seneca is the big influence, but there’s some morality play
elements, too.
It’s written in blank verse, the meter that he-who-shall-not-be-named-until-the-next-episode
uses, and also goes by the catchy title “Ferrex and Porrex.”
The story goes like this:
Gorboduc is an ancient king of Britain who decides to divide the realm between his two
sons, Ferrex and Porrex.
They fight, Porrex kills Ferrex, and so the Queen stabs Porrex while he’s sleeping.
Then the people rebel, killing both Gorboduc and the Queen.
Nobles rise up and kill most of the people.
Everything’s a huge mess, and the succession is still unclear.
Now that’s what I call a tragedy.
Right, Yorick?
And yes, this obviously sounds a lot like “King Lear,” but of course we aren’t
discussing “King Lear.”
Unless what I’m saying now counts.
DANGIT.
Early English Renaissance plays weren’t staged in theaters, because freestanding permanent
theaters didn’t exist yet.
Not in England, anyway.
These plays were staged in gardens, banquet halls, inn yards and schools.
But as acting became increasingly professionalized and plays became increasingly popular, troupes
started to raise funds to build permanent structures.
They couldn’t build them in the City of London itself, because there was a belief
that play-going spread plague.
Plays and players were basically outlawed in the city proper by the 1570s.
The first theater was probably the Red Lion, which was built in Whitechapel, just outside
of the center of London, in 1567.
We don’t know much about it, except that it had a pretty big stage, some kind of turret—and
that it was very badly constructed.
One of the only surviving documents about the Red Lion is from a complaint by the owner,
John Brayne, against the carpenter who built it.
The lawsuit over its poor construction dragged on until 1578—which may have been longer
than the Red Lion itself survived.
A longer-lasting theater was called…
drum roll please…
The Theatre.
It was built in 1576 by the actor and businessman James Burbage in a neighborhood full of gambling
dens and brothels, because, as we’ll discuss in our episode on the closing of theaters,
they were considered pretty immoral as far as structures go.
For a look at the theater The Theatre, the first important Elizabethan playhouse, let’s
look at the Thoughtbubble: The Theatre borrowed its design from inn yards
or maybe bear-baiting pits, which is exactly what it sounds like.
In Elizabethan England, deciding what you wanted to do for the evening was like, “HMMM
do I feel like watching a bunch of dogs try to kill a bear, or do I feel like seeing a
play?
” The Theatre had a three-level gallery structure on most sides, surrounding a thrust
stage and a bare-as-in-empty space in the middle where penny-paying ticket holders could
stand.
If you paid another penny, you could move to the galleries.
And if you had three pennies, you got a stool.
FAAAANNNNN-CY The Theater was associated with the Lord Admiral’s
Men, and a bunch of the early plays by Ole What Lights Through Yonder Window Shakes.
Eventually a dispute with the landlord led Burbage to dismantle the theater and move
it across the river, where it became, dramatic pause, the Globe.
These early theaters were open air, public arenas.
They could seat as many as 2500 people—everyone from slumming nobles to workingmen to the
poor.
Women came, too, although it wasn’t considered respectable, so some wore disguises!
But there were no women on stage.
Boys played the female roles.
And Scenery wasn’t as advanced as it was in Italy.
Scenes were set with some hanging cloths in the back and maybe a few props.
Plays were held in the afternoon, to take advantage of the natural light.
A lot of snacks were sold, and beer, too.
And if the audience didn’t like the play, those snacks would be thrown!
Thanks, Thoughtbubble!
You wouldn’t throw snacks at me if you didn’t like a thoughtbubble, would you Yorick?
HEY, NO.
BAD SKELLY.
I suppose I deserve this after the eyepoking incident.
In 1576, the first indoor, private theater appeared, Blackfriars Theatre.
It was located on the grounds of a former Dominican Monastery.
It fell into disuse, and in 1596, a second, fancier theater was built nearby, also by
James Burbage.
These indoor theaters seated about 750 people, and since seats were more expensive they drew
a ritzier crowd.
Whether or not that meant ritzier crackers were tossed at the talent, I’m not sure.
The plays they put on were thought to be wittier and more sophisticated than those in the public
theaters, though, and they were initially performed by companies of boys, because the
Renaissance and … child labor.
Who wrote these sophisticated plays for those child laborers?
Well, they were written by a group of playwrights who were later called the University Wits,
because unlike Billy Wiggleharpoon, they all went to Oxford or Cambridge.
These snobs wrote sophisticated plays for grown-up actors, too, including many that
are still performed today.
Basically these guys started with, and improved, the early dramas we looked at, making them
better—truer, livelier, with more awesome poetry.
They prepared the way for–ok,fine–Shakespeare, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ... though they didn’t
always like him.
One of them called him an “upstart crow.”
Yeesh!
Get thee some milk of the poppy to relieve the scorch from that Rennaissance Burn!
Among the University Wits were Thomas Kyd, John Lyly, Robert Green, and Christopher Marlowe.
Thomas Kyd is best known for “The Spanish Tragedy.”
It borrows from Seneca, helps kick off the craze for revenge tragedy, and has a strong
influence on “Hamlet,”.
John Lyly wrote charming pastorals, which probably inspired “As You Like It.”
Robert Green, wrote comedies and pastorals and is best known for “Friar Bacon and Friar
Bungay,” which is a history play and a love story and also a morality play with magicians
and a talking head.
YES, YOU ALSO ARE THAT, except you’re pretty quiet...
And then there’s Christopher “Kit” Marlowe, who led a very busy life before dying in a
tavern brawl before he was 30.
He went to Cambridge, where he earned a master's degree.
He also worked for the Elizabethan government in some secret capacity, maybe as a spy.
His plays are long and intense and full of gorgeous, vivid blank verse which heavily
influenced Shakespeare.
Marlowe’s characters are ambitious.
Really ambitious.
They want to conquer the world or change it.
Or—as in the case of “Doctor Faustus,” his most famous play—make a deal with the
devil that guarantees you a couple of decades as the smartest and most powerful person on
earth.
His tragedies are tragedies of overreaching... of characters who want too much and usually
get it, with disastrous consequences.
Since he’s a big ole deal, we’re gonna be devoting our next three episodes to Shakespeare.
Also, Yorick insists.
Try to remember that Shakespeare doesn’t come from nowhere.
Okay, yes, Stratford-upon-Avon, kind of is nowhere.
But he doesn’t arise ahistorically, or come from nowhere artistically.
He arrives in a theatrical culture that’s already professionalized and thriving, in
a London of established troupes, competing theaters, and eager beer-swilling, snack-throwing
audiences.
Who We’ll see plenty of next time.
Until then…
compost those tomatoes… and curtain!
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