British Shakespeare Association Biennial Conference 2005
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Programme : Panels - Seminars - Workshops
Panel - Performances and audiences
Saturday 3rd September 2005, 2.00-4.00pm,
Herschel Lecture Theatre 3
Participants
Kelly Jones, Aberystwyth University
The changing spatial structures on the
early seventeenth century English stage and the vanquishing of everyman.
Brian Schneider, Manchester University
'Sit, see, and hear': Framing the
Audience in Shakespeare's Theatre'
Nathalie Rivere de Carles, University Paul-Valery of Montpellier
Designing the space of power,
the case of Shakespeare’s Henry VI part 2 and Henry VIII
Abstracts
The changing spatial structures on the early seventeenth
century English stage and the vanquishing of everyman.
Kelly Jones, Aberystwyth University
What were the spatial conditions that accommodated the performances of the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century? In documenting a period of immense social, political and spiritual change in the face of what E. M. W. Tillyard termed 'the Elizabethan world picture', this paper will discuss the changing spatial configurations (both social and physical) in which the drama operated. From the 'public' amphitheatres to the 'private' playhouses and the prestigious court stages, the manipulation of the theatrical presentation and representation of these spaces from within the drama itself can offer a radical insight into the impact of the space upon the performance. This paper will draw upon a case study of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' in order to highlight the implications of this juxtaposition of space and will explore questions as to the effects of the increasing spatial 'decentring' of (every)man, with particular emphasis placed upon the significance of the changing social and spatial role of the 'lord of misrule' - the clown figure who mediated between the illusive world of the play and the world of the audience.
'Sit, see, and hear': Framing the Audience in
Shakespeare's Theatre'
Brian Schneider, Manchester University
The dramatic Prologues and Epilogues of the Elizabethan period often describe the way that playwrights regard their work and, more importantly, suggest how audiences should view the plays presented to them. Though not many of his plays boast many such framing texts, Shakespeare’s use of them is subtle and provocative. The Chorus in Henry V, for example, asks to be accepted ‘Prologue-like’ and invites the audience to ‘Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them’, a plea for an act of creative imagination on the part of the spectator which is new in the drama of the period. Prologues and Epilogues also reveal a crucial debate among playwrights on how best to satisfy both those members of the audience who had come merely to see a play and those who wished primarily to hear it. This is a debate in which Shakespeare positively participates and my paper explores the implications of the dramatist’s attempt to confront and reconcile the dichotomy in audience expectation between visual and auditory elements, via the use of framing speeches.
Designing the space of power, the case of Shakespeare’s
Henry VI part 2 and Henry VIII
Nathalie Rivere de Carles, University Paul-Valery of Montpellier
Lucas de Heere’s The Allegory of the Tudor Succession portrays King Henry VIII surrounded by Elizabeth, Mary and Philip II in a theatrical fashion. The royal throne is depicted as on a stage with its back cloth and all the characters looking out at the potential spectators. The cloth of state is the visual code delimiting the royal space in paintings but also on stage. The use of curtains as cloths of state in the staging of rulers is a recurrent feature relying on the ambivalence nature of both the king and the theatrical artefact. The redefinition of space by curtains in the Histories reflects the problematic imbalance of the royal persona. Cloths of honour are visual landmarks for the opposition between public and private spheres. Whether the rulers position themselves behind or in front of the curtains is significant. The fragmented space thus created suggests the chaotic potential behind the orderly royal decorum. Cloths of honour can become cloth of dishonour and murder. I offer to study the specific scenographic strategies used to represent the space of power, in both Renaissance and contemporary performances of two plays, 2Henry VI and Henry VIII.
