Lecture Slides Living Theatre A HISTORY OF THEATRE SEVENTH EDITION EDWIN WILSON ALVIN GOLDFARB The Theatre of the English Restoration Chapter 9 A Restoration Play Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Lecture Preview • Background: The Restoration • Theatre during the Commonwealth • The Theatre of the Restoration Begins • Restoration Drama • The Transition from Restoration Comedy to Eighteenth-Century Drama • Restoration Audiences • Performers • Restoration Theatres • Summary Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Background: The Restoration • Restoration of government, church, nobility • Charles II • James II • William and Mary • Anne • Hobbes and Locke—natural rights • Colonization • Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge • St. Paul’s Cathedral Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Theatre during the Commonwealth • Puritan closed theatres in 1642 • Playhouses dismantled • Actors persecuted • Secret entertainments • Salisbury Court Theatre • Drolls • William Davenant • The First Day’s Entertainment at Rutland House and The Siege of Rhodes • Proscenium-arch theatre • William Webb Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. The Theatre of The Restoration Begins • Restriction on the number of theatres permitted to operate • New theatres, new makeup of audiences, and new audience atmosphere • Expectations for French/Italian style theatre • Actresses onstage • Upper classes claiming theatre as their own • William Davenant (1606–1668) • Thomas Killigrew (1612–1683) Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. The Theatre of The Restoration Begins • William Davenant and Thomas Killigrew • Davenant • • • • • Playwright Collaborator with Inigo Jones on court masques Poet laureate Knighted for service to the royalist cause The Siege of Rhodes • First English opera • First production with actresses in England • First public performance with changeable scenery Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. The Theatre of The Restoration Begins William Davenant and Thomas Killigrew (con’t) • Killigrew • Supporter of the royalist cause • Wrote tragicomedies • Master of revels • In 1660, Charles II granted Davenant and Killigrew theatre patent • Killigrew: King’s Company • Davenant: Duke’s Company (Thomas Betterton) • 1682: companies reunited Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama • Italian theatre practices • Proscenium-arch theatre • Painted-perspective wing-and-shutter sets • Fused with Elizabethan theatrical practices Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama: Serious Drama • Heroic tragedy • 1660 and 1675 • Extraordinary characters doing extraordinary deeds • Themes of love and honor (similar to Spanish golden age and the French neoclassical plays) • Restoration drama • 1675–1700 • Adherence to the neoclassical rules • John Dryden (1631–1700) • Restoration tragedy • All for Love, The Indian Queen, The Indian Emperor, The Conquest of Granada, Parts One and Two • Reworks of Shakespeare into the neoclassical mold Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama: Restoration Comedy Aphra Behn (1640–1689) • Best-known early English woman dramatist; probably first to earn living by writing • Poet and novelist • Wrote at least twenty plays • Restoration bawdiness • Comedies of intrigue, tragicomedies of intrigue: The Dutch Lover, Abdelazar, and Sir Patient Fancy • Popular comedies: The Amorous Prince!, The Feigned Courtesans, The False Count, and The City Heiress • Farces: The Emperor of the Moon Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama: Restoration Comedy Aphra Behn Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama: Restoration Comedy Comedies of Manners • Influenced by the French dramatist Molière • Focuses on fashions and foibles of upper class: gossip, adultery, sexual escapades • Pokes fun at social conventions and norms of the time • Witty exchanges, repartee, and sexually suggestive references in language • Dramatic structure combines Elizabethan theatre with features of French and Italian neoclassical theatre • Characters stock types with names based on personality traits (fop) • George Etherege (c. 1633–1691): Love in a Tub, She Would If She Could, The Man of Mode Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama: Restoration Comedy William Wycherley (1640–1716) • Plays satirized elegant, dissolute society of which he was a part • Wrote only a few plays • Borrowed characters and situations from several sources • Master of double-entendre • Love in a Wood; or, St. James Park • The Gentleman Dancing-Master • The Country Wife • The Plain Dealer Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama: Restoration Comedy William Wycherley’s The Country Wife Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama: Restoration Comedy William Congreve (1670–1729) • One of the Restoration’s finest dramatists • The Old Bachelor • The Double Dealer • Love for Love • The Mourning Bride • The Way of the World Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama: Restoration Comedy William Congreve’s The Way of the World Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama: Restoration Comedy The Female Wits: Catharine Trotter (1679–1749) • • • • • • • • • • Female wits originally negative term Trotter first published verses at age fourteen Published novel Olinda’s Adventures Wrote first play Agnes de Castro at sixteen Also wrote theological and philosophical works Returned to writing after a twenty-four-year absence Fatal Friendship Love at a Loss The Unhappy Penitent The Revolution of Sweden Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama: Restoration Comedy The Female Wits: Mary Pix (1666–1706) • Did not begin writing until age of thirty • 7–13 plays • • • • • • • • • • • • Ibrahim, the Thirteenth Emperor of the Turks The Spanish Wives The Innocent Mistress The Deceiver Deceived Queen Catharine The False Friend The Beau Defeated The Double Distress The Czar of Muscovy The Different Widows The Conquest of Spain The Adventures in Madrid Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Drama: Restoration Comedy The Female Wits: Delariviere Manley (c. 1672–1724) • • • • • • • • • Had a scandalous reputation; most harshly treated in The Female Wits Wrote for a livelihood The Lost Lover; or, The Jealous Husband The Royal Mischief Alymyna: or, the Arabian Vow Lucius, the First Christian King of Britain The New Atlantis The Adventures of Rivella The Female Tatler Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. The Transition from Restoration Comedy to Eighteenth-Century Drama • Puritans attacked Restoration theatre • Jeremy Collier’s A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage • Sexual content of plays toned down; morality stressed • William and Mary ascended the throne, times changed • Changes reflected in theatre Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. The Transition from Restoration Comedy to Eighteenth-Century Drama Susanna Centlivre • Commercially successful • Sixteen full-length plays, three short farces • The Gamester • The Basset Table • The Busy Body • The Wonder: A Woman Keeps Her Secret • A Bold Stroke for a Wife • Actress—breeches role Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. The Transition from Restoration Comedy to Eighteenth-Century Drama George Farquhar • • • • • • • • • • Born in Ireland Autobiographical plays Love and a Bottle The Recruiting Officer The Beaux’ Stratagem The Constant Couple: or, A Trip to the Jubilee Sir Harry Wildair, Being the Sequel of the Trip to the Jubilee The Stage Coach The Inconstant: or, The Way to Win Him The Twin Rivals Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Audiences • Spirited audience behavior • Mostly upper class due to • Restoration of the monarchy and nobility causing a rush of those people to the theatres • Limited number of opportunities to see theatre • Only two theatres operating in London • Restricted number of high-priced seats • Recent research shows audiences were not exclusively aristocratic • Season from fall to late spring • Performances in afternoon or early evening Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Performers Actresses and Actors • Women onstage as novelty • Breeches roles • Possibility for financial success • Seen as no better than prostitutes • Was admitting women to the acting profession a sign of any kind of equality or equitable treatment? Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Performers Eleanor (Nell) Gwynn • Grew up poor • Became mistress and protégée of Charles Hart • Talented singer and dancer • Breeches roles, prologues, and epilogues • Charles II’s mistress Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Performers Thomas Betterton (1635–1710) • Admired for attention to detail, self-discipline, and majestic restraint • Model of English oratorical style • Dazzling characterizations of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes • Began with William Davenant’s Duke’s Company; became manager after Davenant’s death • Wrote and adapted plays, oversaw rehearsals, trained young actors • Headed United Company • Led actors’ revolt and organized new company Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Performers Anne Bracegirdle (c. 1671–1748) • Enticingly clever urban women in Restoration comedy • Sympathetic heroines in tragedy • “Celebrated virgin” • One of the first great comediennes of the English theatre • United Company and then the rebel company, which she helped manage • Breeches roles • Gifted singer • William Congreve’s comic heroines written for her Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Performers Acting Companies • Larger than Renaissance, and included women performers • Contract system • Theatrical entrepreneurs: Christopher Rich • Benefits Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Performers Acting Companies (con’t) • Playwrights not members • Fee, benefit, or received profits from third night of the premiere (many never had a third night) • Actors learned their craft through apprenticeships • “Lines of business.” • Short rehearsal period run by “acting manager” • Acting style of broad gestures and powerful declamatory delivery • Thomas Betterton and Elizabeth Barry’s voices • Conventional patterns of stage movement • Disputes about acting style Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Theatres Government and the Theatres • Master of revels issued licenses to theatres • Charles II patents to William Davenant and Thomas Killigrew • In eighteenth century, some companies defied licenses • In 1737 Licensing Act • Two theatres authorized to present “tragedy, comedy, opera, play, farce, or other entertainment for the stage for gain, hire, or reward” • Lord chamberlain responsible for licensing plays • Covent Garden and Drury Lane Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Theatres Theatre Architecture in the Restoration • Three significant theatre buildings that fused Italianate and Elizabethan features in London: • Lincoln’s Inn Fields • Dorset Garden • Drury Lane • Indoor proscenium arch • Pit, boxes, and galleries • Raked pit Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Theatres Theatre Architecture in the Restoration (con’t) • Raked stage • Divided in two • Apron • Area behind the proscenium • Proscenium doors with windows or balconies above • Two proscenium doors on each side of the stage Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Debates in Theatre History: The Dorset Garden Theatre Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Theatres Scenery and Scene-Shifting Technology • Restoration basic scenic components were wings, shutters, and borders for masking • Sometimes single backdrop that was rolled up or lowered • Painted in perspective • No pole-and-chariot system • Flats in grooves changed by stagehands • Audiences watched scene changes • Stock settings Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Theatres Costumes and Lighting • Costuming was mostly contemporary clothing • Little attempt to be historically accurate • Lighting a major concern now that theatres were indoors • Natural light from windows • Candles • Footlights Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Past and Present: The Drury Lane Theatre Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Restoration Theatres Threads in Theatre History • Plays of Susanna Centlivre and George Farquhar • Architecture of the Restoration stage • Drury Lane theatre Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc. Summary • Background: The Restoration • Theatre during the Commonwealth • The Theatre of the Restoration Begins • Restoration Drama • The Transition from Restoration Comedy to Eighteenth-Century Drama • Restoration Audiences • Performers • Restoration Theatres Copyright © 2018 W.W. Norton, Inc.
