As the one year anniversary of the construction of the Besen Family Performing Arts Centre (BPAC) approaches us we thought that it would be only fitting to compile a brief comparison between this state-of-the-art performing arts centre that we are so proud to own and one of the earliest types of performing arts facilities in England, The Elizabethan Theatre.
.
Patrons.
The BPAC is a fully seated theatre capable of seating up to 1000 people, while the Elizabethan Theatres were capable of accommodating anywhere between 2000 and 3000 patrons. Even though this may seem as though Elizabethan Theatre was far more superior in the area of providing for patrons, there are many more factors that have to be put into consideration. .
Firstly, in Elizabethan Theatre, seating was determined by wealth and social status. A person was able to attend a play for as little as one penny, where they would watch the performance while standing in the pit or yard. This people were labelled "groundlings" and were generally the lower class of society. The wealthy were usually able to pay an additional fee of one penny for the right to sit in the galleries, a second story of the theatre containing seats covered by a roof. If someone were able to afford it, he would sometimes pay up to five pennies to sit next to the stage. .
Although women attended theatre in Elizabethan times it was often considered inappropriate, and therefore, when wealthier women attended plays, they would wear masks to conceal their identity. Today, however, the vast majority of audiences are comprised of women.
Structure.
There are a lot of differences between the structure of Elizabethan theatres and the BPAC. Two of the most noticeable of these, would be that Elizabethan theatres were unroofed and were not fully seated.
Another major difference is that Elizabethan stages were raised four to six feet from the ground and extended out into the centre of the yard so that the audience were able to view the performance from three different sides of the stage.
Elizabethan England During Elizabethan England, people were much more creative than people are today. ... Elizabethans loved the theater. ... Music was also a part of Elizabethan life. ... Elizabethan medicine did not make great advances from the Middle Ages. ... During the Elizabethan period large feasts were held. ...
This age marked a distinction between public and private portraits. ... (Rowse) Architecture during this age had many characteristics. ... Music was now known as an art form in the Elizabethan days. ... People during the Elizabethan era liked expensive things. ... Elizabethan social customs were a little weird. ...
People living right now may or may not know of the difference between fashion styles back in the Elizabethan Age and now. ... During both now and the Elizabethan era, fashion reflects one's status, rank and wealth in the society. ... Thus, they wore leather, canvas and fustian ("Men's Fashions in the Elizabethan Era"). ... Young boys, rich and poor, followed the style of girls' clothing until 4-6 years of age. ... Nowadays, the styles of women and men have changed drastically since the Elizabethan Age in the US. ...
"The physicians of the Elizabethan period were men of good education. ... The college was less severe about licenses to practice in the country"(Shakespeare & Elizabethan Medicine and Doctors). ... As weird as their customs seem today, they actually worked in protecting against the sickness"(Elizabethan Medicine and Illnesses). ... "In the Middle Ages in Europe barbers would be expected to do anything from cutting hair to amputating limbs. ... Doctors of the Middle Ages thought that taking blood would help cure the patient of sickness so the barber would apply leeches to th...
During the Elizabethan time period, there was a hint of foreshadowing. The Elizabethans, much like today, were broken down into social classes. ... "Leisure was an important part of the lives of the English people during the Elizabethan age. ... In the Elizabethan age, drama was at the pinnacle of its cultural achievement for all time. ... The Elizabethans also loved to listen to music. ...
Elizabethan Sonnets In Elizabethan Age, the sonnets had advanced into a form with new metric and rhyme scheme that was departing from Petrarchan sonnets. Yet, Elizabethan sonnets still carried the tradition of Petrarchan conceit. ... On the other hand, Elizabethan sonnets consisted of three quatrains with a couplet with a rhyme scheme of ababcdcdefefgg. ...
Elizabethan England England was a nation that did not appeal too many. ... The English Renaissance is also known as The Elizabethan Period, named after the reigning queen of the time, Elizabeth I. ... During this time, London was the heart of England, reflecting all the pulsating qualities of the Elizabethan Period. ... This new Age of Idealism brought forth new faces to literature and other arts. ...
It was the Elizabethan Period, a time of undeniable hardships. ... Although life was hard during the Elizabethan Period, the joy of being an actor in London, England, in the 1590s, fulfilled a much deeper calling. ... Actors in the Elizabethan Period were seen as vagabonds, thieves, and low class. ... Not only were the anxieties of poverty a problem in London, but the fear of dying from "The Black Plague," affected everyone in the Elizabethan Period. ... Ben Johnson once wrote about Shakespeare that, "He was not of an age, but for all time (Johnson pg 127)." ...
After the Greeks came Seneca who was very influential to all Elizabethan tragedy writers. ... "There was no author who exercised a wider or deeper influence upon the Elizabethan mind or upon the Elizabethan form of tragedy than did Seneca." ... Church, State and the regular morals of people in that age did not accept revenge, instead they thought that revenge would simply not under any circumstances be tolerated no matter what the original deed was. " It is repugnant on theological grounds, since Christian orthodoxy posits a world ordered by Divine Providence, in which reveng...
