18th century theatre
18th Century Theatre- The growth of Melodrama and the age of SentimentalismSocial, Historical & Cultural Context · Most of the 18th century saw very little change- unlike the two centuries prior.· However this changed at the end of the century with the beginning of The Industrial Revolution - the growth of major cities and the exodus from the countryside to the cities lead to the need for a form of mass popular entertainment.· There was a massive growth in the working and middle classes due to The Ind. Rev.· The 18th century brought about the growth of the Romantic Movement· The middle classes began to dominate the theatre audiences, where previously during The Restoration period it had largely been composed of the aristocracy.· Restoration Plays had been cruel, lewd satires of upper class life, institutions and ind
· This style was known as melodrama. Very few plays from this period are still performed. The characters in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' therefore would be made to fit into these stereotypes. · Stock characters in melodrama were reduced and simplified until they consisted merely of stereotypes such as the hero - often a noble outlaw, the wronged maiden - heroine, her parents, the cold blooded villain and the mystical foreigner. These plays were very simple and equated wealth with villainy and poverty with virtue. The set of 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' would therefore be constructed with this is mind. Oberon would be made to be more scary and sinister - slotting into the position of the villain, and Puck would be made even more mysterious and mystical in his exaggerated actions to fulfil the role of the mystical foreigner. They were always concerned with noble behaviour verses villainy and always ended with good triumphing. Being more conservative the middle classes wanted plays that were more moralistic and sentimental. · These plays were performed in front of stock sets of ruined castles, graveyards, haunted houses, wild moors and cliff tops. · 18th century predominantly saw a move towards a more moral form of theatre, the need for a popular form of theatre for the city masses, exaggeration of character and the declamatory style, and the influence of German Romanticism - all combined to produce a new style of play at the end of the century. The forest would be designed to look menacing and threatening with a ruined castle in the background and it may give the impression that the forest is on the edge of a graveyard. · Melodrama dominated the English and European theatre for the last decades of the 18th and much of the 19th century.
Common topics in this essay:
German Romanticism,
Night's Dream',
Restoration Plays,
Lane Haymarket,
France Germany,
Industrial Revolution,
Nights Dream',
Conditions Conventions,
Cultural Context,
English European,
18th century,
middle classes,
· 18th,
· 18th century,
restoration plays,
form theatre,
'a midsummer,
mystical foreigner,
· stock,
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