European Theatre in the 18th Century (1700's)

[General]

In short, the theatre reflected the philosophical glory of the century, the questioning, the tolerance, and the democratic thinking of the period of Enlightenment

• theatre went from entertainment to a political forum
• the stage began to search for authenticity and newly to mirror the everyday lives of the spectators.
• from craft to art
• actors rose in status, playwrights decently paid

• during 18th century Europe
• Human beings can discover truths through careful observation and perception.  Science is key.

European Theatre in the 18^th Century

(1700s)

[England]

• female playwrights begin to thrive
• Purpose of comedy not to arouse laughter, but to arouse noble sentiments (late 18th c. do laughing comedies come back)
• After Licensing Act of 1737, English drama reflects an atmosphere of CENSORSHIP
• Theatre architecture doesn’t change much; only scale changes: bigger theatres for bigger box-office receipts
• More and more pamphlets and books are appearing about the actor’s art

Philippe Jacques DeLoutherbourg 

(1740 – 1812)  

• Most important designer of late 18^th century
• Popularizes reproductions of real places onstage
• ACHIEVES UNITY OF DESIGN BY OVERSEEING ALL THE VISUAL ELEMENTS OF A PRODUCTION

David Garrick

(1717-1779) - England

• Dominates the English stage, from 1740s on
• Made his actions seem “real”
• "star"
• His career transformed the social status of acting (“his profession made him rich and he made his profession respectable”)

European Theatre in the 18th Century

(1700's)

[Germanic Territories]

I.      By 18^th century, performance in various German territories has been taking 3 major shapes

a.     Court theatres modeled after French court, focusing predominantly on opera

b.     School theatre, especially in Jesuit institutions: drama as teaching tool

HAMBURG NATIONAL THEATRE (1767) - 

(1694-1778) - France

• saw French neoclassical ideal as overly constrictive
• Dominates tragedy in 18^th century (and French literature and thought)
• Move towards sentimentality, a shift that would be pushed even further by other dramatists

(1713-1784) - France

• Argues that neoclassical ideal is too narrow and restricting
• Innovative in placing high emotion and potentially tragic conflict in a contemporary dramatic setting
• Calls for the ‘fourth wall’

Ephraim Lessing

(1729-1781) - Germany

• Germany’s first truly significant dramatist

•   i.     Miss Sara Sampson (1755) brings him fame

  1.     Domestic tragedy

  2.     Wins a triumph for sentimental drama (which has been championed by translations of Lillo’s The London Merchant)

  3.     Draws upon Medea myth but sets it in contemporary England

  4.     Soon becomes the most popular play in Germany, and it is imitated

                                               ii.     Translates the works of Diderot and is able to attract a large middle-class audience to the theatre for the first time

  Encourages writers to break neoclassical rules and to portray wider historical themes

(1761 – 1819)

•  At the time, the most popular playwright in the world!
• Adapts to new trends and public tastes; knows how to titillate audiences without shocking them, how to push the envelope without confusing
• Largely because of him, German drama considered by 1800 the most vital and popular in the world