History of Theatre 8 - From Palace to Public House
Uploaded by betapicts on 13.10.2010
Transcript:
History of Western Theatre
From Palace to Public House
Canaletto (1697 - 1768): Venice
It is no accident that precise in a Republic like Venice,
already in the 16th century theatres existed,
which - contrary to the Farnese court-theatre in Parma -
were accessible to all inhabitants of the city.
Thanks to the great succes of opera,
during the 17th century,
several public theatres for the opera were built.
SS Giovanni and Paolo Theatre in Venice, 1639
But the architecture of all those theatres
was comparable to the architecture of the court theatres.
The U-shaped auditorium consisted of separate boxes.
A greater part of the orchestra
was used as parterre or pit,
in which the less endowed spectators - only standing -
could watch the performance.
Orchestra
Stage, acting space
Movable wings
Scenery space
Space for stage machinery
This is the pit of the opera building:
‘La Fenice’ in Venice, in 1837.
This building burned down several times,
that’s why it is called: ‘Phoenix’.
As is common nowadays in all theatres,
the parterre of the ‘Phoenix” is filled with seats.
Already in 1747 in the parterre of ‘Teatro Argentina’
in Rome seats were placed.
Paolo Giovanni Pannini (1691 - 1765): Argentina Theatre in Rome
The former theatre: Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris
Probably, the first public theatre in Europe
after the Roman era,
was built in Paris in 1548.
Note the scenery consisting of one perspective street.
The proscenium arch in this picture of the theatre,
is from a much later date.
Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1647
Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1767
In this ‘Hôtel de Bourgogne' a scene takes place
of the play ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’,
written in the 19th century
by the French playwright Edmond Rostand.
Hôtel de Bourgogne, Paris, 17th century
Scuffles in the pit...
The guards
Begin, begin, begin...
The Academy
Montfleury! Montfleury!
Montfleury, famous French actor (1600 - 1667)
And he, who is far from the court,
in a solitary place,
in self-chosen exile,
and who,
while Zephyrus haunts through the woods…
Villain!!
Cyrano doesn’t like Montfleury’s old style of acting.
Scenery: Giacomo Torelli (1608 - 1678)
In the 17th century
perspective sceneries possessed, more or less,
one vanishing point.
Scenery: Domenico Mauro, 1690 (Farnese theatre, Parma)
This stage scenery
is constructed on the basis of three axes.
Ferdinando Bibiena introduced the so-called
angle perspective (or 'scena per angelo')
in stage scenery.
Angle perspective (‘scena per angelo’)
Scenery: Guiseppe Bibiena (son of Ferdinando Bibiena)
Guiseppe Bibiena (1696 - 1757)
As a result of this angle perspective,
the scenery space behind the stage
could stay relatively small.
It should be born in mind
that most part of this scenery is painted.
For the spectators the upper side of the scenery building
is concealed.
Therefore,
reliable estimations of the scenery dimensions on stage
are not possible.
As a consequence,
for the first time, the unity of spectator space and stage space
is intersected.
A modern variant of this ‘scena per angelo’
can be seen in this scenery.
Here, the perspective is not attained by means of painting
but by means of practicable units.
Scenery: Norman Bel Geddes (1893 - 1938)
From the last renowned descendant of the Bibiena family
this perspective stage scenery has been preserved.
Scenery: Carlo Bibiena (1725 - 1787)
This scenery can be seen in the Drottningholm theatre
near Stockholm, in Sweden.
Drottningholm Theatre, 1766
Cross-section
The auditorium of this court theatre in not U-shaped.
The court is seated in the front rows.
The wings can be moved simultaneously.
This so-called ‘chariot and pole system’
is discovered by the earlier mentioned
Giacomo Torelli in 1641.
The mechanism is placed down-stage.
This could be called the 'engine-room' of the theatre.
Now follows a scenery change
in the Drottiningholm theatre.
The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte), WA Mozart, (1791)
In all of Europe
the Bibiena-family built all kinds of theatres.
This ‘Pallazo dell’Academia in Mantova, Italy,
contains a theatre that is built by
Antonio Bibiena in the 18th century.
This theatre was mainly used for
cultural events and scientific experiments.
Just after its inauguration, in this theatre
forteen-year-old Mozart gave a piano recital.
In this special theatre,
not suited for theatrical performances,
a proscenium arch is hardly discernable.
It was not until the 20th century that theatre architecture underwent a drastic change.
From Palace to Public House
Canaletto (1697 - 1768): Venice
It is no accident that precise in a Republic like Venice,
already in the 16th century theatres existed,
which - contrary to the Farnese court-theatre in Parma -
were accessible to all inhabitants of the city.
Thanks to the great succes of opera,
during the 17th century,
several public theatres for the opera were built.
SS Giovanni and Paolo Theatre in Venice, 1639
But the architecture of all those theatres
was comparable to the architecture of the court theatres.
The U-shaped auditorium consisted of separate boxes.
A greater part of the orchestra
was used as parterre or pit,
in which the less endowed spectators - only standing -
could watch the performance.
Orchestra
Stage, acting space
Movable wings
Scenery space
Space for stage machinery
This is the pit of the opera building:
‘La Fenice’ in Venice, in 1837.
This building burned down several times,
that’s why it is called: ‘Phoenix’.
As is common nowadays in all theatres,
the parterre of the ‘Phoenix” is filled with seats.
Already in 1747 in the parterre of ‘Teatro Argentina’
in Rome seats were placed.
Paolo Giovanni Pannini (1691 - 1765): Argentina Theatre in Rome
The former theatre: Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris
Probably, the first public theatre in Europe
after the Roman era,
was built in Paris in 1548.
Note the scenery consisting of one perspective street.
The proscenium arch in this picture of the theatre,
is from a much later date.
Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1647
Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1767
In this ‘Hôtel de Bourgogne' a scene takes place
of the play ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’,
written in the 19th century
by the French playwright Edmond Rostand.
Hôtel de Bourgogne, Paris, 17th century
Scuffles in the pit...
The guards
Begin, begin, begin...
The Academy
Montfleury! Montfleury!
Montfleury, famous French actor (1600 - 1667)
And he, who is far from the court,
in a solitary place,
in self-chosen exile,
and who,
while Zephyrus haunts through the woods…
Villain!!
Cyrano doesn’t like Montfleury’s old style of acting.
Scenery: Giacomo Torelli (1608 - 1678)
In the 17th century
perspective sceneries possessed, more or less,
one vanishing point.
Scenery: Domenico Mauro, 1690 (Farnese theatre, Parma)
This stage scenery
is constructed on the basis of three axes.
Ferdinando Bibiena introduced the so-called
angle perspective (or 'scena per angelo')
in stage scenery.
Angle perspective (‘scena per angelo’)
Scenery: Guiseppe Bibiena (son of Ferdinando Bibiena)
Guiseppe Bibiena (1696 - 1757)
As a result of this angle perspective,
the scenery space behind the stage
could stay relatively small.
It should be born in mind
that most part of this scenery is painted.
For the spectators the upper side of the scenery building
is concealed.
Therefore,
reliable estimations of the scenery dimensions on stage
are not possible.
As a consequence,
for the first time, the unity of spectator space and stage space
is intersected.
A modern variant of this ‘scena per angelo’
can be seen in this scenery.
Here, the perspective is not attained by means of painting
but by means of practicable units.
Scenery: Norman Bel Geddes (1893 - 1938)
From the last renowned descendant of the Bibiena family
this perspective stage scenery has been preserved.
Scenery: Carlo Bibiena (1725 - 1787)
This scenery can be seen in the Drottningholm theatre
near Stockholm, in Sweden.
Drottningholm Theatre, 1766
Cross-section
The auditorium of this court theatre in not U-shaped.
The court is seated in the front rows.
The wings can be moved simultaneously.
This so-called ‘chariot and pole system’
is discovered by the earlier mentioned
Giacomo Torelli in 1641.
The mechanism is placed down-stage.
This could be called the 'engine-room' of the theatre.
Now follows a scenery change
in the Drottiningholm theatre.
The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte), WA Mozart, (1791)
In all of Europe
the Bibiena-family built all kinds of theatres.
This ‘Pallazo dell’Academia in Mantova, Italy,
contains a theatre that is built by
Antonio Bibiena in the 18th century.
This theatre was mainly used for
cultural events and scientific experiments.
Just after its inauguration, in this theatre
forteen-year-old Mozart gave a piano recital.
In this special theatre,
not suited for theatrical performances,
a proscenium arch is hardly discernable.
It was not until the 20th century that theatre architecture underwent a drastic change.