Many wandering actors quickly found acceptance performing at celebrations such as births, baptisms, and weddings. They became known as Minstrels, and would simply arrive at the appropriate time and place and perform. As their popularity grew, schools for Minstrels were established in France, and soon after, the first French guilds of Minstrels appeared in 1361. Approximately 100 years later, guilds of Minstrels were established in England as well.
Targeted at the common person in an attempt to convert him/her to Christianity, Miracle Plays began being performed by priests in the 12th century. These plays were put on in the church, and consisted of stories detailing man's relationship with God. Simple and intimate, these productions captivated their audiences and drew them to the church. At this time, the church "stood at the center of life" and dictated to the community what was acceptable and what was not. The church controlled all forms of culture, music, art, literature, and drama. By putting on plays, the church was in effect, lending credence to theatre - a sharp contrast to its past views. However, this is easily understandable since through the use of this new drama, the church thrived.
Soon tradesmen began to take part in the performance of the plays. Performances were moved out of doors, and began to take on topical subjects. The popularity of this form of entertainment spurred the formation of acting guilds as well as the continued development of bigger and better productions. Special carts, or Pageant Wagons, such as the one pictured in Figure 2, were created which could be moved in front of an audience and then taken away.
Figure 2: Painting of a Pageant-Wagon by Denis van Alsloot (Clunes, 17)
Scenes could be created on each cart, and then changed by simply wheeling the old scene (cart) out, and wheeling the new scene (cart) in. Soon plays with as many as 30 carts and hundreds of actors were being performed.
By the beginning of the 15th century, there was a movement to return to the smaller scale plays of earlier times. Morality Plays were created, acted by a small group of performers, at much less expense than the great productions discussed above. Morality plays were focused on the common man, or the "everyman." These were simple plays about virtues and vices that utilized little or no scenery at all. Because of their simplicity, these plays could easily be taken on the road; often groups of actors traveled from town to town playing on village greens until they had worn out their welcome (or were chased out by authorities), and then moved on. Occurrences of the plague often caused the temporary banning of public gatherings, also forcing actors to move along. These actors utilized pageant wagons both as their means of transportation and as their stage.
(Show video clip one from Hamlet 01:00:00 - Franco Zeffirelli, 1990)
There were a great number of these traveling groups of actors, but they all shared three common features:
- Performers were everywhere, and traveled both near and far. This ensured that many forms of performance spread quickly from town to town, country to country.
- Performances were 'spiced' with pantomime and clowning in order to encourage and widen universal appeal. There was also a great oral tradition, and therefore, very little was written down (or preserved for later times).
- Plays often had a ritual quality. Expectations of the public were often gratified by the repetition of performances.
As some of the more talented groups of actors began to gain popularity, they were often able to take their performances to inn yards such as the White Hart Inn pictured in Figure 3. In such a setting, a fee was charged to the playgoer for entering the inn yard, and then an additional fee was added on if he/she wanted to go up to a balcony level.
Figure 3: The Courtyard of the White Hart Inn, Southwark, London (Smith, Plate 21)
The innkeeper benefited by selling more food and drink as well as receiving a fee from the actors, while the actors benefited from an enclosed area to perform, as well as a back room in which they could rest, and change costumes. It was a profitable arrangement for both. Actors, however, were often subject to scrutiny by the Puritans, to whom theatre was self indulgent, and therefore evil, and local authorities, especially in the city of London. One can still find inn yards in London today, and some are even still used for productions such as the yard of the King George Pub in High Borough, London, pictured in Figures 4 and 5, which dates back to the 16th century.
Figure 4: King George Pub, High Borough, London, 1997 (Shot 1)
Figure 5: King George Pub, High Borough, London, 1997 (Shot 2)
When an acting group was really talented (or lucky), they were invited to perform in the great house of a local noble. Many nobles, as well as members of the Royal Family, enjoyed theatre, and took special pleasure in having private performances in their own home. Such a setting was mutually beneficial, since the acting troupe was shielded from the persecution of both the Puritans and local authorities when staging private performances.
(Show video clip two from Hamlet 01:05:00 - Franco Zeffirelli, 1990)
Certain groups were even given the honor of playing for the Queen of England. Elizabeth was greatly interested in theatre, and offered actors protection from the clergy and authorities. She encouraged the formation of acting companies, as well as competition among these companies. Later, King James I would continue this tradition, and in fact, bestowed the title, The King's Men, on Shakespeare's acting company, formally recognizing them as his favored acting troupe
|
 |
|
| Lesson 1.1 |
|
Lesson 1.3 |