The document provides details about Elizabethan stage and audience. It describes the evolution of English drama from religious plays to comedies and tragedies. It discusses the various theatres like The Theatre, The Globe, The Rose, and the structure of public playhouses. It covers costumes, makeup, stage props, special effects like trapdoors and music used. It also outlines the diverse audience comprising commoners and gentry, and their enjoyment of supernatural, violent, musical elements in plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

1. ELIZABETHAN STAGE & AUDIENCE
PPT prepared by
Beena .E .S

2. *The word drama
comes from the Greek
word “dran” meaning
“to act” or “to do”
*Introduced to
England from Europe
by the Romans
*In England---
distinctly religious in
origin

3. *Liturgical drama
stories from the
Bible—Latin
*Plays put on by the
Roman Catholic
church
*“Quem
quaeritis”(Whom do
you seek)—earliest.

4. Miracle /Mystery Plays
In France, Miracle used
to represent the life of
the saints and Mystery
used to represent any
scene taken from the
scripture
In England, there was
no distinction between
this two
Four cycles---York,
Chester, Coventry,
Wakefield

5. *Ludus Santa de
Katherina—Earliest
recorded mystery play
*Latin or French—inside
the church—actors (clergy)
*Fall of Lucifer, the
Creation and Fall of Man,
Cain and Abel, Noah and
the Flood, Abraham and
Isaac, the Nativity, the
Raising of Lazarus, the
Passion, and the
Resurrection—Mostly

6. *Morality play--
a dramatization of
personified abstraction.
*death, sin, good and bad
angel, seven deadly sins—
personified.
*Purpose—to teach a
moral lesson
*Everyman, The Castle of
Perseverance

7. *Interlude is the
short version of
morality play
*forerunner of
comedies
*The Four P’s” by
John Heywood

8. Evolution of English drama
*English drama was influenced
by classical drama
*To present human life as it is
*Ralph Roister Doister--
Nicholas Udall--first comedy
*Gorboduc---Thomas Sackville
and Thomas Norton—first
tragedy
*Gradually developed

9. Evolution of Theatre

10. *Strolling players
— actors to the
audience
*Performed in–
palaces, tavern
yards,
gentlemen’s
houses.

11. Touring Dramatic Companies
Admiral’s Men
Patronized by Queen
Elizabeth
Chamberlain’s Men
Patronized by Queen
Elizabeth initially but
later James I took
charge of the company
and named it the
“King’s Men”

12. Three kinds of theatres
Public
Theatres
Private
Theatres
The Halls of
Royal
Palace/The Inns
of Court

13. Public
Theatres

14. Private Theatres

15. The Halls of Royal Palace/The Inns of Court

16. Few Important Theatres

17. *The Red Lion-- the first English theatre--in
1567– Whitechapel--John Brayne--failure.
*The Story of Samson—only play known to
be performed.

18. *The first successful
theatre, The Theatre, --
1576-- at Shoreditch,
London -- James
Burbage
*The Lord
Chamberlain's Men
used it from 1594 to
1596

19. *The Rose –1587--
Philip Henslowe.
*It was the first
theatre to be built on
Bankside in the
Liberty of
Southwark.
*Admiral’s Men --
lead by Edward
Alleyn

20. *The Globe Theatre—1599--
destroyed by fire on 29 June
1613—Henry the Eighth.
*The Globe was owned by
the shareholders of the Lord
Chamberlain's Men
*Circular in structure, the
inside yard was open to the
sky—3 tires of galleries—
Pit around the stage—no
seats in the pit—uppermost
gallery, thatched roof.

21. *The Fortune –1600--
Philip Henslowe and
Edward Alleyn--
1621(destroyed by fire),
re-opened in 1623,closed
in 1642,demolished in
1661.
*open yard, a
rectangular stage which
was covered by a roof,
gentlemen's rooms, a
“tiring-house.

22. The Swan Theatre -
-Francis Langley –
1594
The Isle of Dogs--
closure of
playhouses in 1597.

23. Redbull
*1605 on St John
Street in Clerkenwell--
demolished in 1665
*It was converted
from a yard in an inn.

24. Black friars.
*two separate theatres
*had roofs, artificial
lighting and other amenities
that the other playhouses
did not possess.
*The King's men tooklease
of the Black friars from
Richard and Cuthbert
Burbage in 1608 --twenty-
one years --40 pounds per
year

25. Structure of the theatre

27. Public Playhouses
*Octagonal, circular or square in shape.
*Timber, nails, stone (flint), plaster and thatched
roofs were used to build.
*Can accommodate 1500 –3000 people.
*The stage was raised, 4-6 feet, extending to the
center of the yard.
*The pillars supported a roof called the 'Heavens'
*Traps in the floor, for fire, smoke, other effects.
*Flag on top of hut – to signal performance day

28. *Stage dimensions--Varying from 20 foot wide 15 foot deep
to 45 feet to 30 feet
*The height of the stage--A raised stage - supported by large
pillars or trestles
*Floor of the Stage--Made of wood, sometimes covered
with rushes
*Had a "pit" or "yard" – where the "groundlings" were seated.
*The yard cost less ,the Gallery cost more.
*A hut above the Tiring House, for equipment and
machinery.
*Musicians’ gallery.
*No restroom Facilities.

29. Most playhouses had a brick base with timber-framed
walls. The gaps between the timbers were filled with
sticks, hair and plaster.
The roofs were made from thatch or tile
Lord's rooms —balcony --either used by the actors or
the rich ,the nobility --5 pence ,cushioned seats.
The 'Gentlemen's rooms‘--balconies on the left and right
of the 'lord's rooms‘—4 pence.
The 'Tiring House‘—back stage
The 'Hut‘--storage space

30. Half open to the sky
*Opened to the sky in the
middle, but with a
thatched roof over the
galleries.
*Inner stage was 20 to 25
feet wide, 10 to 21 feet
deep and 12 feet high
*Initially acted during the
daytime

31. *Costumes --important to
actors because there
was little scenery
*Well-established actors
owned their own
costumes.
*Audience could relate the
characters with the role from
their costumes
*Black—Evil/Mourning
White—Purity
Yellow—Lovers
Red--Violence

32. WOMEN
*wide spreading Farthingale
of satin, velvet, taffeta, cloth
of gold, silver, copper, and the
ruff of stiff lawn.—Higher
ranking women
*Servants--
dark blue or mustard-colored
garments
*20 pounds for a gown

33. *Silk and furs-- royal
family as well --duchesses
and countesses.
*Wives of knights--
leopard furs and velvet
*Wives of peasants --
wool, sheepskin, and
linen-- beige, brown, and
green

34. MEN
*The jacket and cloak were
made of silk or velvet
*doublet (a long-sleeved,
waist-length fitted jacket)
jerkins (a short-sleeved
jacket that fit tightly over
the doublet), trunks (puffy
shorts)
hose made of rich materials,
lace of gold, silver, or
thread.

35. *The monarch --clothing of
their choice
*Dukes, earls, and
marquises--silk clothing as
well as sable furs
*Knights--velvet, leopard
furs, and silk with
embroideries
*Lower-class men--brown,
beige, green, or blue

36. *Capes, hats, bonnets, hair
accessories, and jewelry
were the staple accessories
of middle- and upper-class
citizens
*Men's hats – narrow,
rounded-- lace, chains, and
silk, feathers
*Women—bonnet--lace
work along with ribbons,
bows, and pearls
Buttons on clothing –
jewelry--pearls or gold.

37. *Commoners --fabrics made of wool, sheepskin, linen, or
taffeta
*Peasant men--loose-fitting trousers, trunks, cloaks.
*The devils wore tails, cloven hoofs,
and horns.
*The clowns were dressed like country yokels or wore
the red and yellow motley of the fool
*Ghosts usually wore sheets, though that of Hamlet's
father appeared in full armor
*The witches in Macbeth wore ugly masks and fright
wigs.

38. Make-up
kohl, ceruse, vermilion, etc
Colour extracted from plants and
flowers were used extensively--tin
ash, sulphur and alum, egg white…
Face paint was known as fucus
Make-up used by boy
actors was lead-based and highly
poisonous.
Lips---Cochineal and madder
Eyes--black kohl or antimony and
belladonna
Hair Colour--Oil, cumin seeds,
celandine and saffron--Wigs

39. Stage Props
*no artificial lighting.
*Chairs to indicate the
scene as being
indoors
* lantern –Night
*Pigs or Sheep’s
blood—realism to
violent death

40. *Small trees stood
for a forest
*Table and benches
gave the impression
of a tavern
*Bed wheeled in to
indicate that the
setting was a
chamber.

41. Cannon
--above the stage
fired to signal the
play is about to
begin

42. *Trapdoors--
Smoke--misty
scene/ magic
*Smoke mixture
of different salts
and alcohol --red,
black, yellow, or
white

43. Heavens/Hell
Good spirits entered
through a trapdoor in the
Heavens-The actors were
lowered on a rope or
a wire
Evil spirits and devils
came up from Hell, under
the stage, through a
trapdoor
in the stage.

44. Thunder -- rolling a
cannonball across the
floor / beating drums.
Lightning flashes--
throwing a powder made
from resin into a candle
flame.

45. No drop curtain
There was no curtain fall
between the acts. The end of the
scene was often indicated by a
rhyming couplet

46. *Placards ---to
announce the location
of the action
*Shakespeare—
Dialogue through
characters

47. No Female Performers
Men played the role of
women—young boys
were trained from
childhood
Shakespeare---disguise of
boys—Rosalind, Viola,
Beatrice

48. ELIZABETHAN
AUDEINCE

49. *Heterogeneous--sailors,
soldiers, thieves,
pickpockets, immoral men
and women, tanners,
butchers, iron-workers,
millers, seamen ,glovers,
servants, shopkeepers,
wig-makers, bakers, and
countless other tradesmen
and their families, public
officers, critics, scholars

50. The wise and many headed bench
That sits upon the life and death of plays, is
Composed of gamester, captain, knight, knight's man
Lady or pucelle, that wears mask or fan,
Velvet or taffeta cap, rank'd in the dark,
With the shop's foreman, or some such brave spark,
That may judge for his sixpence.
--Ben Jonson on the diversity of
the playgoers

51. Groundlings-- They
generally stood in the pit
round the stage –noisiest—
1 penny
The refined gentry usually
sat on the chairs close to the
stage and
sometimes upon the stage
itself
There were special boxes for
very high officials
Most of the members of the
audience--illiterate

52. Women often wore
masks to cover their
identity.
Fashionable ladies
generally occupied the
first row
Highly respectable ladies
did not usually visit
public theatres

53. Boisterous, loud and hot-
tempered
“These are the youths that
thunder at a playhouse,
and fight for bitten apples;
that no audience, but
the Tribulation of Tower-hill,
or the Limbs of
Limehouse, their dear brothers,
are able to endure.”
(Henry VIII, 5.4.65-8)

54. *Crude and unrefined
*They came to the
theatre to have a good
laugh at the antics of
the clown
*Shakespeare—Clowns
and Fools appeared even
in his tragedies--The
grave-diggers in Hamlet,
the drunken porter in
Macbeth, the clown in
Othello

55. The Elizabethan
audience, in general,
liked scenes of
murders, bloodshed,
vengeance, oppressions
and atrocities.

56. *Delighted in
exhibitions of juggling,
tumbling, fencing and
wrestling
The Wrestling-match in
As you Like It,
the rapier duels in Romeo
and Juliet
riot in Julius Caesar and
in Hamlet,
the sword fight in
Macbeth delighted them

57. Elizabethan audiences
were fond of music and
song.
Vocal music--serenades,
part-songs, rounds, and
catches
Musical instruments had
symbolic significance—
Hoboys (oboes)--doom or
disaster
lute and viol --eased
melancholy

58. Supernatural Elements
*There was a strong
belief in the existence of
the supernatural.
*Appearance of fairies,
witches. Ghosts—
common--
Midsummer Night’s
dream, the Tempest,
Macbeth, Hamlet…

59. Presiding Deity—
Shakespeare—dramatic
career—1590-1610—37
plays.
Comedies
Tragedies
Histories
Romances

60. Acknowledgements
1)https://www.nosweatshakespeare.com › Blog
2) Elizabethan Theatres, Stages, Set and Props – BURTS
DRAMA(https://burtsdrama.com/2015/06/09/elizabethan-
theatres-stages-set-and-props/)
3) www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/architecture-of-elizabethan-
theatres.htm
4) www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-theatres.html
5) https://www.slideshare.net/chelseyng/elizabethan-
theatre-9428887
6) www.bardstage.org/globe-theatre-props.htm
7) Costumes, props, sets in the Elizabethan theatre by
akethzalli ... -Prezihttps://prezi.com/ugusfqi0zzts/costumes-
props-sets-in-the-elizabethan-theatre/
8) Stage and Props - Shakespeare - Google
Sites(https://sites.google.com/site/8thgradeshakespeare/ho
me/globe-theatre/stage-and-props)

61. 9) Shakespeare's Props | Prop Agenda
www.props.eric-hart.com/education/shakespeares-props/
10) Elizabethan Theater, Inn-yards and Playhouses - William
Shakespeare
www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-biography-
elizabethan-theatre-pla..
11) Elizabethan Era Theatre Costumes - - Elizabethan Era
England Life
elizabethanenglandlife.com/Elizabethan-Theatre-Costumes.html
12) What costumes did actors wear? - Shakespeare's Globe
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/files/2014/01/cos
tumes_cosmetics.pdf
13) Elizabethan Costume - Elizabethan Era
www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-costume.htm
14) COSTUMES & CLOTHING IN THE ELIZABETHAN
THEATRE
https://prezi.com/xsmvd3a4qsqm/costumes-amp-clothing-in-
the-elizabethan-theatre/

62. 15) Globe Theatre Props
www.bardstage.org/globe-theatre-props.htm
16) Actors, Costumes and Props - Shakespeare's World
shakespearesworldmsc.weebly.com/actors-costumes-and-props.html
17) Elizabethan Theatres - Elizabethan Era
www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-theatres.htm
18) Globe Theatre Special Effects
www.bardstage.org/globe-theatre-special-effects.htm
19) Special Effects - Shakespeare's Globe
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/files/2014/06/special_effects.
pdf
20) Music in Shakespeare's Plays | Britannica.com
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Music-in-Shakespeares-Plays-1369568
21) chapter 4 elizabethan audience and drama - Shodhganga
shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/jspui/bitstream/10603/120766/5/chapter-4.pdf
22) Elizabethan Theatre Audiences - Elizabethan Era
www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-theatre-audiences.htm

63. 23) Elizabethan Theater Facts - William Shakespeare
www.william-shakespeare.info/elizabethan-theatre-facts.htm
24) Audiences - Shakespeare's Globe
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/files/2018/02/audiences_facts
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25) A Brief History of the Audience - Shakespeare Theatre Company
www.shakespearetheatre.org/_pdf/first_folio/about_shakespeare.pdf
26) Elizabethan Make-up - Elizabethan Era
www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-make-up.htm
27) Elizabethan Makeup 101 - Elizabethan Costume
www.elizabethancostume.net/makeup.html
28) Hairstyle and make-up in Shakespearean times and ... - Mural UV
mural.uv.es/abordel/GP1.pdf
by AIB del Prado
29) What costumes did actors wear? - Shakespeare's Globe
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/files/2014/01/costumes_cosm
etics.pdf