Creating a Professional Theatre: Elizabethan England, Italian Commedia dell'Arte, and Seventeenth-Century France

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, roles, conventions, and concepts of professional theatre development across Elizabethan England, Renaissance Italy, and 17th-Century France.

Renaissance

A period beginning in the 14th century that revived interest in the classical theatre of Greece and Rome.

English Decree of 1558

A law that banned plays on religious and political subjects, shifting focus to classical literature, historical chronicles, and legends.

Masterless Men

The classification given to Elizabethan actors because acting was not considered an acceptable profession and did not fit into the guild system.

The Yard

The open space enclosed by galleries in the Globe Theatre, measuring 74 ft. in diameter, which provided the cheapest viewing location.

Spoken Décor

A theatrical convention where locations were clarified through dialogue while a permanent façade served as the backdrop for all performances.

Jig

A short, lively music-and-dance piece that concluded most Elizabethan theatrical performances.

Blank Verse

Dramatic poetry that retains the flexibility of normal speech while formalizing it, frequently used in Elizabethan playwriting.

Iambic Pentameter

A speech rhythm formatted in an unstressed-stressed pattern that makes up 5 feet per line.

De Architectura

A classical work by Vitruvius that describes theatre layout and appropriate settings for tragedy, comedy, and pastoral plays.

Proscenium Arch

An architectural structure introduced in Renaissance Italy that framed painted scenic elements to complete a pictorial stage.

Intermezzi

Interludes performed between the acts of regular plays in Renaissance Italy, characterized by music, dance, special effects, and mythological themes.

Opera

A theatrical form originating in the 1590s that combined drama, music, dance, spectacle, and special effects.

Commedia dell'Arte

Italian comedy of professional artists centered on actor adaptability, improvisation, and stock characters.

Scenario

A summary of situations, complications, and outcomes that served as the script for Commedia dell'Arte performances.

Lazzi

Bits of comic business incorporated into Commedia dell'Arte performances.

Zanni

Servant stock characters in Commedia dell'Arte, typically consisting of at least one clever servant and one stupid servant.

Pantalone

A stock master character in Commedia dell'Arte who is an elderly, frugal Venetian merchant and would-be lover.

Dottore

A stock master character in Commedia dell'Arte who is a lawyer or doctor, supposedly intelligent, but easily tricked.

Capitano

A stock master character in Commedia dell'Arte who boasts about prowess in love and war, but proves cowardly when challenged.

Arlecchino (Harlequin)

The most popular zanni character in Commedia dell'Arte, known as an acrobat and dancer who used a slapstick and wore a black mask and hat.

The Servant of Two Masters

A play written in 1745 by Carlo Goldoni from the last days of Commedia dell'Arte that provided a written text rather than relying primarily on improvisation.

Neoclassical Unities

Seventeenth-century French rules requiring Unity of Time (within 24 hours), Place (one location), and Action (one plot).

Lines of Business

A system in 17th-century French theatre where actors specialized in playing a limited range of specific role types.

Tartuffe

A comedy of character written by Molière featuring a five-stage plot and adhering to the Neoclassical unities of time and place.