British
Drama
One
of the countries with important theatrical tradition is Great Britain. It is
well known that British people’s love for theatre isn’t something new. It all
started a few centuries ago, in the Middle Ages.
The Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages, people used to attend the
medieval Mystery plays which focused on the representation of stories from the
Bible. Also, Morality plays became particularly popular in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries. They were allegories which touched upon various issues of
morality.
English Renaissance Theatre
During this period the so-called “English
Renaissance theatre” developed. Its development was closely associated with
Renaissance, which was related with the ideals of ancient Greek civilization
and science. Theatre has been one of the basic expressions of this mood for
change and liberty.
The greatest representative of the English Renaissance theatre was the
English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare. He is believed to be the most
important author who wrote in English and one of the biggest drama writers
worldwide. Some of his famous plays are “Romeo and Juliet”, “The Merchant of
Venice”, “The Taming of the Shrew”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Hamlet, the
prince of Denmark” to name but a few. The value of his plays is evidenced by
the fact that they are played until today and they still appeal to a wide
audience.
Well-known playwrights of this period are also Christopher Marlowe (“The
Tragical History of Dr Faustus”, “The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta”)
and Ben Jonson (“Every Man in His Humour”, “The Alchemist”).
During this period actresses didn’t participate in plays. Young boys
were playing the parts of girls. Actors ought to be simultaneously dancers,
singers and even musicians. Clowns, who were appearing in many plays, used to
improvise. Furthermore, theatrical texts were believed to be valuable objects
and they were maintained in manuscripts and were kept by the troupe who had
them in their possession.
The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
During the Interregnum (1649 – 1660), English
theatres were kept closed for religious and ideological reasons. In 1660 with
the Restoration of the monarchy, they opened again and drama flourished. New
genres of that period were the heroic drama, the pathetic drama and the
Restoration comedy. In the eighteenth century, sentimental comedy, domestic
tragedy and Italian opera became particularly popular.
The Victorian Era
The Victorian Era (1832 – 1901) was named
after Queen Victoria, who was a British monarch and lived during the nineteenth
century. This era was associated with the Industrial Revolution and with the
territorial expansion of the British Empire .
These factors caused financial and social changes. In this period, farces,
musical burlesques, extravaganzas, comic operas as well as Shakespeare and
serious drama were staged especially in London
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Modern Theatre
It isn’t easy to define the beginning and the
end of the literary era of the Modern Theatre. Because history is never-ending
it can be hard to classify when one era starts and when it ends. Literature
doesn’t change from one moment to the other, and there is no apparent transformation
of its elements. Therefore, people must search for a wide range of literary
elements to find patterns and gradual changes, in order to classify a specific
time of literature.
In this period, theatre employed a style of social realism and explored
social and political issues, as well as the domestic lives of the working
class. The most important dramatists of Modern British Drama were Samuel
Beckett, Harold Printer, Tom Stoppard with strong absurdist elements in their
plays. In addition, an important feature of the British Drama, especially after
1920, was the commissioning of plays or the adaptation of already existing
plays by the BBC radio.
Conclusion
The British Theatre’s grand offer to the
English culture, but also to the European civilization, is evident. In England,
well-known authors and their theatrical plays influenced both theatre and
literature. As far as the theatre’s importance is concerned, the theatre has
always been and still is a basic form of entertainment and intellectual cultivation
for people.
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