2. Discuss the rise of Realism and Naturalism.
3. Discuss the history of threatre in America.
4. Discuss the history of the American Musical Theatre.
5. Discuss the Current Theatre.
1. Discuss the French Royal Theatre.
The time that followed the Renaissance is generally known as the Enlightenment, a time when the energies of the Renaissance were channeled and structured by the intellectuals and philosophers of the day. It was a time that established great scientific and literary academies; a time that codified knowledge, thought, and law; a time of elegant politeness and social decorum. But it was the time in-between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment that theatre experienced another great period known as the "Royal Theatre," which took place particularly in Paris (this time of theatre in London, England is more commonly known as the Restoration). At the onset of the seventeenth century, France, which had lagged behind the rest of Europe during the Renaissance, had just emerged from a period of chaos with no political capital and little leisure for serious attention to the arts; thus, the French stage was only a rude native one with only an occasional imported troupe - such as the Commedia dell` Arte which traveled through many European countries. In the next sixties years, France would become the most brilliant center of the stage arts in all of Europe.
In 1600, there was only one theatre in Paris, the Hôtel de Bougogne, a remnant of the Miracle Play days. Play writing activity was also practically non-existent with only a remaining body of old religious plays and farces, and as mentioned earlier, theatre itself existed only in the visits of strolling comedian troupes who usually performed at fairs. During this time the Hôtel de Bougogne was controlled by the "Brothers of the Passion" and had the monopoly on theatre in Paris (except for performances in the Court) and since there were no permanent theatre companies or troupes in Paris, they consented out permission for traveling troupes to perform at the fairs and collected tribute from the one that played in the Hôtel de Bougogne. In 1610, the first permanent company in Paris appeared and took up residence at the Hôtel de Bougogne, this was "The King's Players" headed by Valleran Lecomte and the writer Alexandre Hardy. One successful business deserves another. In 1629, the "Prince of Orange's Players" opened the second Parisian theatre, the Marais, a converted "Tennis-Court," and established themselves as permanent rivals. Later, Richelieu's palace (built in 1641) would be converted into a theatre, the Palais Royale, where Molière would give his last performance. Molière's troupe would persist and combine with the Marais and the Hôtel de Bourgogne seven years after his death to form the Comédie Française - which has survived and performed for over three hundred years.
Much of the influential theatre material that came into France was from the late Italian Renaissance and the visiting Commedia dell' Arte. Early playwrights in France were Robert Garnier who wrote tragedies in the Alexandrine verse-measure and Alexandre Hardy who wrote tragi-comedy in a free style, but it was in 1636 at the Marais theatre that Corneille's Le Cid was first performed and began the era of French tragic drama. Racine was the next great playwright to follow Corneille. Racine produced plays that were much different than Corneille. Racine was more concerned in portraying how the characters suffered and felt than in what they did. Both playwrights produced plays that were typical of the French Royal Theatre: they were produced for and required an educated audience, they were also plays for a simple platform stage. In 1658, after a long period of trouping about in the south, Molière appears in Paris as the great comedy playwright of France. Molière was a playwright that appeared to break every rule of the Unities, and chose to write plays in his own style and with characters of his own choosing - nonetheless, such a style made him greater than his time.
The main patrons of the French Royal theatre were the kings, nobility, and upper class of the society associated with the Courts; thus, it occupied a central position in royal society and the affairs of state. In fact, the association between the theatre and court was so interdependent that the court and king ultimately decreed what should and should not happen in theatre. This was in accordance with the idea of a divinely guided ruling class - Divine-Right Monarchy. According to Molière, if a play was to be successful, it must satisfy the tastes of the Court. The Court had manners and decorum insistent upon splendid appearance, verbal dexterity, intellectual, dispassion, social grace, and an abiding sense of whimsy and irony. But Molière also had a view against such rules; "I should like to know whether the great rule of all rules is not to please, and whether a play which attains this has not followed a good method?" (Cohen 181).
Throughout Europe, the authority of the king extended to encompass art, religion, literature, dress, deportment, and morality. Every activity and opinion of the king became the gossip of the town. The success of any theatre production depended on the response of the king: should he be board, the play would soon die; should he yawn, it would be buried that night; should he applauded, it would be a success. Such influence led to the formation of a particular tradition linked to Handel's oratorio, The Messiah. When first performed in 1741, for King George II, the King found the music so beautiful that by the time of the "Hallelujah Chorus" he stood up in respect, causing the entire audience to stand; thus, it is now tradition to stand during the "Hallelujah Chorus."
The most splendid era of the Royal Theatre was during the 1660s and 1670s under King Louis XIV. The Royal Theatre was a fundamentally elitist theatre of a highly restricted audience: a cliquish group consisting of titled and untitled courtiers, members of the emerging professional class of civil servants and lawyers, members of the emerging bourgeoisie, and a complement of social pretenders. It was a showcase where the audience went to see and be seen, a place to gossip, gawk, and gallivant; thus, much like the Shakespearean theatre, it was a challenge for the authors and actors to capture and keep the audiences' attention. But unlike the Shakespearean theatre, the dramaturgy means of capturing attention was governed by the new rules of Neoclassicism (called Unities) under which Shakespeare was somewhat primitive. These rules of "new classicism" developed from the Renaissance and were expanded and refined by classical scholars. This dictated a form of theatre that avoided stage violence and vigorous physical action, instead, the action consisted of posing, gesturing, and talking. These rules were most encumbering as a criteria for playwrights, and the majority could not completely follow them. It was from such rules during this era, that dramatic criticism first truly became a significant influence over its subject. It was these rules that separated the orthodox practitioners within the rules and the reckless experimenters who would bring play writing closer to life. Under such codified rules, special theatres were made the official homes of classic drama and often given monopolies on legitimate productions.
The stage of the Royal Theatre had scenery placed well back of the actors, and since there was very little action or movement on stage, courtiers who wanted special attention felt quite safe in purchasing seating on the stage itself (which were later driven from the stage by Voltaire's persistent retribution). The persistent abuse of Courtier's seating upon the stage grew to such extent that the actors hardly had a strip of the stage left upon which to act. The beaux and fops who sat upon the stage were worse than the dandies in Shakespeare's days. A notable change in the composition of the actors had made its way from Italy to France, this was the admission of women into the acting profession. This had a fundamental and irreversible change in the chemistry of theatre - it "introduced a sensual realism that invigorated even the most turgid productions" (Cohen 174). The theatre of the Royal era had a dual location: at palaces and playgrounds. The location of palaces and court for entertainment had been a practice for centuries; thus, it was natural for the king to continue the tradition. The Romans and the Elizabethans had both intermixed sports and theatre; thus, it too, was a natural setting for theatre to be located in sport facilities - in France, it was at the buildings of a game called jeu de paume (the forerunner of tennis). These buildings made ideal structures for the early presentation of theatre. Not only in their design, but also in the fact that there were so many available throughout Paris for conversion to theatre. By the end of the sixteenth century there were a thousand or more of these structures in Paris alone which lent themselves particularly well to the conversion of frontal, proscenium-type theatre. New theatres that were built during this era used this same design architecture. These were rectangular structures with a 3:1 length-to-width ratio, spectator galleries, and a large standing-room area or pit - which was the favorite place of the Parisian.
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Now that we know somewhat of the setting of the French Royal Theatre, let's discuss the main playwrights that made the era great: Molière (1622-1673), Racine (1639-1699), and Corneille (1606-1684). The central figure for this discussion will be Molière.
Molière: As Shakespeare is to England, Molière is to France: a representation of the eras theatre. The theatre company that is considered Molière's company, the Comédie Française, was formed seven years after his death, and has performed continuously for more than three hundred years. Molière's diversity in the field of theatre as an actor, producer, critic, and comic playwright gave him the title of "un homme du théâtre," - "man of the theatre." His comedies have become essential pieces of repertoire in many theatre companies around the world.
It is no doubt that Molière would have worked with the other two great playwrights of the Royal Theatre, Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine. In fact, Molière produced dozens of plays by other writers, including Corneille, and he was the first to discover and produce Racine. Evidence perhaps, that greatness associates with greatness. Molière's influence reached out beyond his national boundaries. In his day, his plays had much influence upon the English Restoration drama, notably, William Wycherle's the Plain Dealer, was an adaptation of Molière's The Misanthrope.
Born in Paris as Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, the son of a prosperous furniture maker and upholsterer to the king, he had an early exposure to the court life in Paris and graduated from the College of Clermont and the College at Orléans with a degree in law, but chose not to pursue a career in either his academic training or his father's business. Instead, he entered the theatre just before his twenty-first birthday and chose as his stage name, "M. de Molière." This was a career that would start with failure before leading him on a well experienced, long road towards greatness. This early failure was perhaps due to his breaking of all the "laws of theatre," but he would find favor in Louis XIV, who would stand against his own court-made distinctions.
In 1643, he entered in with a group of amateur and semi-professional actors known as Les Enfants de Famille and opened the Illustre Théâtre, which failed in debt within two years - for which debt he was imprisoned. After his release, he and his troupe spent the next twelve years in the south entertaining the public and gentry in street theatres and private homes. It was during this time of trouping that he gained two very important experiences: "a first-had knowledge of the stage effects that infallibly amuse audiences; and a seasoning of philosophical humor and gentle wisdom, born out of struggle, companionship, intrigue, poverty, and checkered success" (Cheney 237). He was finally invited to play before Louis XIV in Paris, which resulted in securing royal favor (not only as a playwright but also in a personal relationship) and his installation at the Théâtre du Petit Bourbon in the French capital. His further success there, led to his move to the more elegant Palais Royale as the "King's Comedians." From here on, "he was one of the most celebrated and controversial figures in the French court and in Parisian literary life" (Cohen 180).
The works of Molière were greatly influenced by the Commedia dell` Arte as well as the long lessons of life, "he well understood the difficulty of arriving at sensible, simple solutions to many of life's problems" (Cohen 181). His works came more into line with the true realities and conflicts of life: "common sense versus implacable desire, hard reality versus galloping irrationality, personal integrity versus political and social ambition" (Cohen 181). His works of comedy were mostly of social satire with a rare combination of wit, romance, sharp-edge social commentary, and farcical hijinks. Many of his plays revolve around the issue of money, such as The Miser, an issue that he no doubt became familiar with during his performances in the south - where he learned the difference between flattery of noble patrons and financial support. In fact, most of Molière's plays can be seen as a self-expression of his own life, and it is perhaps this self-expression in his plays that makes them so true to life and enduring. His works include: The School for Husbands, The School for Wives, Le Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, The Bourgeois Gentleman, The Miser, and The Doctor in Spite of Himself.
In 1673, Molière produced his last work, The Imaginary Invalid. During his fourth performance, on 17 February 1673, he suffered a convulsion - a violent fit of coughing (his poor health was not imaginary) but he was able to finish the play before dying a few hours later. The era of French neoclassic drama would survive only until the death of Racine.
Jean-Baptiste Racine, born without rank or money, is considered to be the greatest dramatic poet of France. His parents died when he was young, forcing him to live with his grandmother. He was fortunate for his education, in that an aunt arranged for him to study with Jansenist scholars at the Petites Ecoles and later at the college of Beauvais. He became familiar with the Greek and Latin Classics and decided to become a playwright. Racine made characters that were truer to life with all the human frailties and emotions required, he made passion less intellectual and helped free French theatre from the Unities. Racine constructed plays with few characters and simple plots usually from orthodox Greek or Roman sources, but sometimes from the Bible. In 1664, his first play, The Thebaide, was produced by Molière, and his second effort, Alexandre, received a better reception than the first. Other plays include Andromaque, Litigants, Berenice, Bajazet, Mithridate, Iphigenie, Phedre, Esther, and Athalie. In 1672, Racine was admitted to the French Academy. In 1677, he was asked to write the official history of King Louis XIV, which made him a courtier and a noble. During this time, his last two plays, Esther and Athalie, were written for the court.
Pierre Corneille is considered to be the "Father of French Classical Tragedy," (it should be noted that Stephen Jodelle is called the "Father of French Tragedy"). He was born in Rouen, Normandy, the son of a magistrate, where he was educated to be a lawyer. He produced his first play at the age of twenty-three. After marriage, he moved his family to Paris in 1647, where he was admitted to the French Academy. He remained in Paris until his death in 1684. During his time, the Unities were giving most all playwrights problems, but he was able to produce masterpieces under these same rules. It is only when his works are compared to Shakespeare's more human creations, that it is discovered a well-nigh intolerable formality and bareness, a dry art work within narrow limits. Nevertheless, his works are formal excellencies to be relished intellectually and appreciated. His works include; Le Cid, Medee, Horace, Cinna, Polyeucte, Le Menteur, Don Sanche d' Aragon, Andromede, and Oedipe.
1. Discuss the French Royal Theatre.
2. Discuss the rise of Realism and Naturalism.
3. Discuss the history of threatre in America.
4. Discuss the history of the American Musical Theatre.
5. Discuss the Current Theatre.
