ELIZABETHAN THEATER

WHAT?

FOOD

• Elizabethan Food and Drink varied according to status and wealth (i.e. Meat)
• They were introduced to new foods from people that had gone to the New World world

CLOTHING

• Women's Clothing - gowns, hats, corsets, underwear, collars, ruffs and shoes.
• Men's Clothing - doublets, breeches, underwear, collars, ruffs, and hats
• Regardless of their wealth, Elizabethans were not allowed to wear what clothes they liked. Their clothing
• was dictated by the Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws which governed the style and materials worn

ENTERTAINMENT

• Entertainment was extremely important to people who lived in the Elizabethan era.
• Their lives were hard, the mortality rate was high due to frequent outbreaks of the Bubonic Plague
• Elizabethan entertainment was popular whenever there was something to celebrate
• Court entertainment was regular, often a nightly occurrence combined with feasts,
• -jousts and banquets often accompanied by music and dancing

WHERE?

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• They preformed in theaters, barns, and courtyards
• (i.e. Globe theater, Blackfairs Playhouse)

WHEN?

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• They preformed weekly and people would go as a form of
• -entertainment

WHO?

ACTORS

• Woman and men that we're not noblemen could not act.
• Any parts that were feminine were played by a young boy

AUDIENCE

• The audience consisted of a wide range of people. There was many classes of people from rich to poor.
• Royalty - Queen Elizabeth I loved watching plays. They were generally performed in indoor playhouses
• -for her pleasure. She would not have attended the plays performed at the amphitheatres
• The Nobles - Nobles would have paid for the better seats in the Lord's rooms paying 5d for the privilege
• The Commoners (groundlings/stinkards) would stand in the theatre pit and paid 1 penny in a box at the theatre entrance - hence the term 'Box Office'

PLAYWRIGHTS

• Shakespeare was one of the greatest playwrights and is best known for his unique
• writing techniques.

PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PERIOD IN THEATER

• Edward Alleyn (1566-1626) Richard Burbage (1567-1619) John Heminge (1556-1630)
• William Rowley (1585-1642) Robert Armin (1568-1615) Henry Condell (1568-1627)
• William Kempe(1560-1603) William Shakespeare(1564-1616) Christopher Beeston(1570-1638)
• Nathan Field (1587 - 1619), John Lowin (1576 - 1659), Joseph Taylor (1586 - 1652)

WHY?

Why were these performances created?

• To entertain and to bring culture and variety to the people.

Why were certain actors/costumes/scenery used?

• All people of the Elizabethan period understood the meaning of different colored clothing. Nearly every color
• of clothing had its own meaning during the Elizabethan era. The colors and fabrics of the costumes therefore
• revealed information as soon as the actor stepped on stage. (i.e. Elizabethan Nobles and Upper classes
• wore clothing made of velvets, furs, silks, lace, and cottons and taffeta)

WHY DID THEATRE STOP AFTER THIS TIME PERIOD WAS OVER?

• The rise of the Elizabethan theatres started in 1576 but by 1648 theatres and playhouses
• were ordered to be pulled down, all players to be seized and whipped and anyone caught attending
• a play to be fined five shillings.

HOW?

HOW DID THEY END?

• 1648. The Puritans ordered all playhouses and theatres to be pulled down

HOW DID THE ERA EVOLVE?

• Since they were at risk of being completely shut down, they sometimes had to do things in secret. Many people
• were afraid to attend because the consequences were either painful or expensive