Elizabethan Theatre Essay

The evolution of theatre conventions began with highly presentational Greek productions and changed through the Medieval and Elizabethan ages to the current conventions. Greek conventions included performances done on a mostly bare stage, the use of internal stage directions to indicate location, episodic play structure, and a chorus that served multiple functions including setting the overall mood, commenting on or explaining the action, and creating reflection intervals. Other conventions included an all-male cast, the “Three Actor Rule,” the presence of a tragic hero, and the plays typically served the purpose of teaching the public or making a political statement. Many of these conventions evolved to adapt to the time period of the performances.

The chorus often represented a part of society which is the case in Antigone where the chorus represents Theban elders. The chorus in this play also acts as a council to Creon while also speaking to the audience in the stasimon. The function of the chorus in Greek theatre served multiple purposes such as setting the mood of the play and providing intervals of reflection for the audience. While later theatrical plays in the Elizabethan time period did not include a chorus that acted as its own entity, actors could act as a chorus. In Elizabethan theatre, characters would be part of the action but could also speak to the audience to comment on the action. This is similar to the chorus speaking to the audience during

In the case of Sophocles, he voiced his concerns about the governmental change to a democracy through the polis and their control over funeral practices through the play Antigone. During the time of Sophocles, the government was moving away from an oligarchy towards a democracy with the polis as the ruling power. The play also dealt with the debate during the time over whether or not citizens should be allowed to continue extreme mourning that the polis found to be excessive. This interfered with natural law because anyone who was not properly mourned was thought to be denied entrance into the underworld. During the medieval time period, morality plays were used to teach the masses the importance of good morals. One such morality play was Everyman which showed that the only thing that goes with someone to death is their good deeds and that it is a waste to place value on anything else above good deeds. Shakespeare’s Othello also featured a moral by warning of the dangers of