Richard Burbage and the Theater
When modern day people think about “The Theater”, most people think about going to the movies. In earlier times, people thought about one family, The Burbages. The Burbage family was very well known because of their success in the theaters. The purpose of this paper is to give facts about Richard Burbage’s life and to tell the influence he had on the theater.
Richard Burbage was the son of James Burbage and the brother of Cuthbert. He was born in 1567 at Stratford-on-Avon. His father was a famous theatrical entrepreneur. James Burbage built The Theater in Shoreditch, London. Later on, once deceased The Theater was inherited by Richard and Cuthbert. (“Richard Burbage”)
Richard Burbage is the most famous Globe Theater actor. Richard Burbage grew up in a theatrical family. Most of Richard Burbage’s inspiration came from his father. His father’s theater was where his acting began. By the time that Richard Burbage was twenty, he was acting in preeminent roles. Richard took over the person he was acting as, “becoming” the person. He
was an excelled actor and played in some very important people’s plays. Richard Burbage and William Shakespeare became close friends. Richard Burbage played in leading roles in Jonson, Kyd, Beaumont, Fletcher, John Webster, and William Shakespeare’s plays. It is believed to be that Richard played in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Richard III, Othello, and King Lear. Richard Burbage was the star actor in William Shakespeare’s first folio. The folio had nine hundred pages Richard Burbage was best at acting in tragedies. (“Richard Burbage”)
Richard Burbage was part of the troupe, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, with Lawrence Fletcher, William Shakespeare, Augustyne Phillippes, I...
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...ting as. Many people look up the things Richard Burbage accomplished.
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Dean, Leonard F. "Richard II: The State and the Image of the Theatre." PMLA 67 (1952): 211-18.
Guadagnini. W. 2009. The Visionary and Silent Theatre of Roger Ballen [Online]. Available: http://www.rogerballen.com/articles/the-visionary-and-silent-theatre-of-roger-ballen [2014, Feb. 16]
There are many important aspects of theatre history. Important playwrights, actors, theatres, and events that impacted theatre in major ways. In this paper I am going to discuss the life of an important actor who would be better known for his last name and the actions of his brother. By looking into his life I have learned how interesting of an actor he was and what significance he had on theatre history. This actor is Edwin Booth.
to see the completion of the construction of the Globe Theater. After his death, Burbage's sons
There were many factors that contributed to the changes made to the Broadway theaters in the 20th Century. Broadway faced many problems during the time period of 1945-1955, resolved by numerous different solutions. This included impacts of World War II and the Great Depression, the decline in audience interest and the loss of many actors and producers.
“The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation,” says Stella Adler. Theater is unique and intriguing because it blends literary and visual arts to tell a story. Throughout the course, I have learned that understanding aesthetics and sociopolitical history is essential for appreciating and applying theater in the real world. Brechtian and musical theatre styles, such as applying musical theatre in RENT, are effective methods to convey crucial historical and social messages, utilizing theater as a platform outside of the arts and for a greater purpose of positive social change.
Russell Brown, J. 1995. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Theatre. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Around 1601, students attending Cambridge performed a play called The Second part of the Return from Parnassus, the third part in a series of satirical plays about London’s literary scene. Two characters by the name of “Kempe” and “Burbage” seem to represent Will Kempe and Richard Burbage of Chamberlain’s Men (Reedy and Kathman). During the play, Kempe says,”Few of the university [men] pen plays well, they smell too much of that writer Ovid, and that writer Metamorphosis, and talk too much of Proserpina and Jupiter. Why, here's our fellow Shakespeare puts them all down, aye and Ben Jonson too. O that Ben Jonson is a pestilent fellow, he brought up Horace giving the poets a pill, but our fellow Shakespeare hath given him a purge that made him bewray his credit.”.
Societies progress can lead to intercultural similarities, and vastily obvious differences. These influences can be seen within the contemporary theatre of the times, explaining and progressing the status of community through storytelling and performance. The reactions to these changes are important, and help shape the society we have today. These elements are best seen between the medieval ans renaissance period.
There are many different kinds of entertainment today which includes movies, plays, and many other works for the entertainment of individuals. “The Renaissance marked a high point in the arts throughout Europe, and nowhere was that more striking that in English Drama and poetry” (English renaissance DISCovering) The first theater was built by James Burbage in 1576. Early theater inspired man of today's works and genres. “Puritan dislike of the theater as a place of lies and sin began to influence it and keep away more and more of the middle-class audience that had been its mainstay” (“Harlan Judith”).
William Shakespeare born in 1564 is famously known as one of the most influential writers of all time; he conjured up many breathtaking plays during his lifetime. One of Shakespeare most successful plays was the tragedy Macbeth. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular play writer of all time. In this famous play Shakespeare has portrayed Macbeth as respectable noble man however he is motivated to go down the path of dishonesty and crime.
Others include Samuel Gilbourne, William Sly, Henry Condell, and John Sincler (“The Lord Chamberlain’s Men”). Richard Burbage was the star of the company and he was the son of James Burbage, the builder of the first theatre in London (“Shakespeare and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men”). Shakespeare wrote and acted for The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, he was said to have performed in plays such as Hamlet, where he played the ghost, and he performed as Adam in As You Like It (“The Lord Chamberlain’s Men”). A favored acting company during the time of Shakespeare was The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
Theatre serves to reflect society. From Shakespeare to Sophocles, a playwright’s work illustrates the different mechanics within a culture or time period or society. Theatre offers viewers the experience of taking a step back and looking in on themselves. In this way, theatre is a mirror for the world and the way it functions.
Theatre will always survive in our changing society. It provides us with a mirror of the society within which we live, and where conflicts we experience are acted out on stage before us. It provides us with characters with which we identify with. The audience observes the emotions and actions as they happen and share the experience with the characters in real time.