English Renaissance Theatre

You've likely heard of the Italian Renaissance and the beautiful art that came from it. But how much do you know about the English Renaissance and its penchant for theatre? Ranging from the mid-1500s until the mid-1600s, the English Renaissance was an important period in history. It can be characterised by the flourishing theatre industry and the production of many plays that are still well known today, like the works of William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

English Renaissance theatre: history

English Renaissance theatre has a rich history and is considered to have begun in 1562. It began with the performance of a play entitled The Tragedie of Gorboduc (1561) by two playwrights, Thomas Norton (1532-1584) and Thomas Sackville (1536-1608). The period is characterised by expanding and flourishing theatres as theatre-going became one of England's most common pastimes, regardless of someone's class. Before this, theatre had typically been restricted to aristocrats.

English Renaissance theatre is particularly associated with Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), who reigned from 1558 to 1603. Queen Elizabeth had a great interest in the arts and was known for having a personal flair for the dramatic too. Under her reign, the profession of theatre expanded significantly. Theatres were built all over London (and other major cities), and professional theatre companies were established. Many of these companies were funded by wealthy patrons, with the Queen herself financing some of them.

This new atmosphere put an end to the need for theatre companies to travel widely in order to make money. Therefore, they could invest more time in producing great and engaging works of theatre. As the theatre business boomed, companies became less reliant on their patrons, which gave actors and playwrights even more freedom to produce the plays that they wanted to make.

Thematically, under Queen Elizabeth I, English theatre began to produce plays that focused on secular topics. This was in stark contrast to the often heavily religious plays of previous periods. Politics, love, and philosophical themes were commonly explored during the Renaissance.

After Queen Elizabeth's death in 1603, King James I (1566-1625) took the throne. By this time, theatre had been established as a productive industry and national pastime. Like his predecessor, King James delighted in theatre. He personally became the patron of Shakespeare's theatre company which was renamed the 'King's Men'. This established James as a lover of theatre to the public.

The King's direct patronage made Shakespeare warier of producing anything that may offend the monarch, but it appears that this never became an issue. The King's Men had relative freedom in producing their plays, as did other companies operating within the theatrical industry as it continued to flourish under King James.

Fig. 1 - Queen Elizabeth I was a key figure of the English Renaissance.

Suffering from ill health for an extended time, King James passed away in 1625. He was succeeded by his son, King Charles I (1600-1649). The theatre changed somewhat under King Charles. There were not as many new plays being produced, which meant that what was being performed were usually older plays from previous years.

Charles did not take as much interest in the theatre as his predecessors, as he was caught up in disagreements with the English parliament. They wished for the monarchy to have less power. This led to the outbreak of the English Civil War (1642-1651), which the King lost. Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans then took over the leadership of England. As part of their conservative religious policies, theatre in England was subsequently banned in 1642. This ended the period of English Renaissance theatre.

English Renaissance theatre: characteristics

English Renaissance theatre encompassed various genres, which all had different focuses. However, there were similar characteristics that defined the production and performance of these plays distinctly of the Renaissance period.

• Generic variety: English Renaissance plays ranged from comedies to tragedies to history plays, to name but a few genres. Playwrights tended to have the freedom to write about what they wished.
• Wealthy patronage: Particularly in the early Renaissance period, many English theatre companies were patronised by rich aristocrats and royals. This provided companies with better resources to perform their plays, but they also had to be careful not to include anything that may offend their patrons.
• Established theatres: Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, permanent theatres were built across the major cities of England. This gave companies a base to work from, allowing them to put together more substantial productions.
• Varying performances: Unlike today, theatre companies did not do extended runs of a particular play. In Renaissance England, companies changed what play they were performing every few days.
• Wide audience demographic: In contrast to previous periods, Renaissance theatre was accessible to people of all classes. Both working-class people and aristocrats watched the same plays. This impacted the themes of these plays, allowing them to be broader.
• Low pay: Although theatre became a more established industry during the Renaissance, the pay for actors and playwrights was still very low. Most of the money companies made went into producing the plays themselves. This meant that many involved in the theatre industry did it because of a genuine interest in the art form.

English Renaissance theatre: costumes

Costumes were central in English Renaissance theatre as they were one of the few adornments present on stage. Set design was very sparse and often lacking in these productions. However, costumes were expensive, and theatre companies could not afford to buy new costumes for each production. Therefore, costumes were reused frequently. They were also not typically designed to reflect the time period of a particular play; rather, they were more traditionally Elizabethan.

A costume's key function in Renaissance theatre was to designate a character's class. Upper-class characters would wear brightly coloured and adorned clothing, whereas the costumes of servants and poorer characters would be much simpler and duller. Typical Elizabethan costumes would have usually included tight corsets, wide-skirted dresses, ruffled collars for women, and ruffled shirts, thick jackets called doublets, and stockings for men.

English Renaissance theatre: plays

The period of English Renaissance theatre covers a timespan of close to a century. A litany of plays was produced during this time on varying subject matter. However, particular plays stand out as exemplars of Renaissance theatre.

English Renaissance theatre: Doctor Faustus (1592)

Doctor Faustus is a tragedy play by playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593). Based on a German story, Marlowe's play revolves around the protagonist of Faustus, a professor of theology who becomes corrupted. Faustus is obsessed with the idea of obtaining new knowledge but feels he has already learnt all there is to be learned, except in the realm of magic. He takes an interest in necromancy, the practice of communicating with the dead, which has disastrous consequences.

Faustus makes a deal with a devil named Mephistopheles. Mephistopheles will serve Faustus for twenty-four years, and after this, Faustus will give up his body to the devil Lucifer. This deal plays out, and despite some repentance on Faustus's part at the end of Marlowe's play, Lucifer still claims him.

Doctor Faustus tapped into some common religious debates happening in the late 1500s. Many disagreed over when people are born if God has already decided who will go to heaven and who will go to hell, therefore, removing the concept of free will. This debate is shown in Marlowe's play, with no strict conclusions being drawn. The production itself was very well-received upon first performance, with tragedies being extremely popular during the English renaissance.

English Renaissance theatre: Henry V (1599)

Henry V is one of Shakespeare's history plays, a genre that the playwright often wrote in. It follows the young King Henry V, who is trying to throw off his rebellious past by carrying out an ambitious invasion of France. Henry believes he has a right to be monarch of this country as well as of England. The battles between France and England are difficult and bloody, with many losing their lives.

However, Henry gives multiple rousing speeches, cementing himself as a capable leader. He leads England to a definitive victory in the Battle of Agincourt and is given the Princess of France's hand in marriage. Their child will be France's next monarch.

Like tragedies, history plays were another popular dramatic genre during the English Renaissance. Audiences were interested in these fictional analyses of real historical events. The powerful monologues in Henry V were the central focus in Renaissance productions of this play as set designs were minimal, even when depicting grand military battles. Henry V subtly presents different opinions on the value of military invasions and on the ambitions of monarchs.

Fig. 3 - Shakespeare, arguably the most important playwright of the English Renaissance period.

English Renaissance theatre: facts

The English Renaissance was a period in which theatre flourished, with playwrights able to explore a variety of themes and genres. The facts of class binaries mattered less as new lower-class audiences were exposed to the theatrical world in a way they never were before. Many plays of this period are still performed in theatres today.

• The first successful Renaissance theatre, simply named 'The Theatre', was opened in 1576, just outside London.
• In the earlier days of the English Renaissance, many theatres had to be constructed outside London as the Mayor of London, and other city nobles disapproved of theatre as an industry.
• Many Renaissance plays were never published and only existed as performances. There is likely a multitude of plays modern audiences will never see because of this.
• Unlike today, Renaissance plays were all performed during the day as there was no way to light large theatres after night had fallen.
• If you saw a character in a Renaissance play wearing purple, this usually meant that they were royal. At the time, purple was associated with wealth and nobility.