Governmental Influence on Theatre
Marriage of Figaro
http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=vPkiLseVfBE
•
2:43-4:10 and 5:42-7:40
• The Marriage of Figaro by
Beaumarchais
• Banned by Louis XVI, but
loved by Marie Antoinette
, shown to King in 1784
• (French Revolution 1789)
• Play also banned in
Vienna
th
18
century controls on theatre
• England – Patent theatres and the Licensing
Act of 1737
• France – Subsidized three state theatres and
placed restrictions on all other theatres
• Germany – states provided subsidies to
theatres.
England
• Charles II issued two patents (licenses) to
operate theatres to Killigrew and Davenant.
– The patents were gradually sold off into shares
• By 1737, Drury Lane and Covent Garden were
the two patent theatres
• Act of 1737 issued due to insult to Robert
Walpole
Prime Minister Question Time
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngMs_4I1
__o
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpZhugo
mNJE
Licensing Act of 1737
• Applied to “tragedy, comedy, opera, play,
farce, or other entertainment of the stage, for
gain, hire or reward”
• Limited plays to City of Westminster (London)
• Lord Chamberlain’s approval required for all
plays
• L.C. control until 1968
Licensing Act 1843
• Lord Chamberlain has to have a good reason
to ban
• Could ban if "it is fitting for the preservation of
good manners, decorum or of the public
peace so to do”
• Allowed local governments to license theatres,
the patent theatre system no longer in effect.
Effects – New forms
• Burletta
– 3 Act play with 5 or more songs per acts
• Melodrama
– Music + Drama
• Later - Music Hall
• Burlesque
France
• Three subsidized
theatres
• Commedie Francaise
• Opera
• Commedie Italienne
Boulevard Theatre
• Located on Boulevard
du Temple
• Catered to popular
tastes
• Could produced shows
more popular that the
shows in subsidized
theatres
Boulevard Forms
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Comic opera
Pantomime
Melodrama
Variety
Later vaudeville
Germany
State subsidized theatres
• Rulers established theatres
• Some gave significant financial support
beyond box office receipts
• Stability
• Government controlled theatre through the
reward of financial support.
German Melodrama
• Not need to avoid regulation
• Develop out of theatrical interest in
manipulating emotions in theatre through
music
Governmental Influence
Censorship ex. Saved
Licensing – ex. Patent theatres
Regulation -ex. Licensing Act 1737
Political pressure ex. Red Scare in USA/ USSR
and theatre
• Funding – NEA
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Censorship in America
• 1655 a play know as The Bear and the Cub
was performed in Virginia
• The actors were arrested on the charge of
public wickedness
• They were latter released
Censorship in America
• 1750 the General Court of Massachusetts
prohibited stage plays and theatrical
entertainments of any kind
• 1759, the House of Representatives in the Colony
of Pennsylvania passed a law forbidding plays and
acting.
• 1761 Rhode Island passed a law preventing
theatre from being performed
• Northeast generally did not tolerate theatre due
to heavy Puritan influences
NEA Four
• Karen Finley, Tim Miller, John Fleck, and Holly
Hughes
NEA vs. Finley
– 1990 law requiring the National Endowment for
the Arts (NEA) to consider “general standards of
decency and respect” in the awarding of federal
arts grants on behalf of performance artist
– “NEA Four" received funding then lost it on the
basis of decency,
NEA Four
– they challenged the NEA’s decision based on
freedom of speech.
– 1998 Supreme Court ruled in an 8-1 opinion that
the 1990 “standards of decency” statute was
constitutional. As a result, NEA can deny funding
based on the grounds of decency.