ACTORS & ACTING
Some of WS's most memorable words are about actors and acting:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women are merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts. (As You Like It II.7)
and
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you,
trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines.
(Hamlet III.2)
and
Like a dull actor now
I have forgot my part and I am out,
Even to a full disgrace. (Coriolanus V.3)
and my favourite
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. (Macbeth V.6)
A 1596 drawing of the Globe by Johannes de Witt.
As mentioned in the previous blog, acting was not a respected profession. All of the actors were male as women were not allowed on the stage. The actors fell into two groups: young boys before their voices broke played the female roles while the older men played the remaining parts. The boy actors were apprentices and were taught their craft by the older actors.
All the actors had to be very versatile. In several plays they might be called on to play a soldier at the beginning of a play or a lord or servant at the end.
Since actors were not deemed reputable (often seen by the authorities as vagabonds and crooks), they organised themselves into acting companies under the patronage of an aristocrat or even King James I. Some of the most well-known companies included the Admiral's Men who were the main rivals to Shakespeare's Company and the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men). Edward Alleyn was the Admiral's Men's leading actor and Richard Burbage was his rival in the King's Men.
Other famous actors of the day included John Hemmings and Henry Condell (who later compiled the First Folio of WS's plays in 1623) Augustine Phillip, Richard Armin and Richard Crowley.
There were also several Children's companies of actors, such as, Children of the King's Revels, a short-lived company formed in c.1606. This company was formed by a syndicate which included the poet Michael Drayton. Another company was called Children of St. Paul's which was based at St. Paul's Cathedral Grammar School, while a third company was known as the Children of Windsor. In Hamlet (II.2) WS refers to these Children's companies when Hamlet asks:
What, are they children? Who maintains 'em?
How are they escoted {financially supported} Will they pursue the qualities no longer than they can sing? Will they not say afterwards, if they should grow themselves to common players...
The acting companies most important expense was the costumes. Costumes were known as 'apparel' and they were to be as magnificent as possible, especially for regal and aristocratic roles. Sometimes lords etc. donated their cast off clothes to the theatre where they would be lovingly looked after, repaired and stored by the 'tiremen' (attiremen).
Actors had to be able to think on their feet as they had little time to rehearse as the turnover of plays was extremely fast. The theatre manager, Philip Henslowe (acted by Philip Rush in Shakespeare in Love) noted that there would have been a new play almost every day and that he was producing up to 23 plays at any one time. A good actor would have to remember the lines of 20-30 plays.
A typical actor's day meant that he woke up at dawn, ate breakfast and went to the theatre. He would then have to learn any special scenes, e.g. fights and make sure he had all his props and his costume(s). Performances would take place at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the best time to catch the daylight.
Then after the Grand Finale the actor would make sure he was ready for the next day's play and rehearse until the evening when it would become too dark to continue. Then he would retire with the rest of the company to a nearby tavern to drink and gossip and then to bed.
Actors were not given the full script but only their own specific parts and its cues. This was done in order to prevent the actors selling the plays to a rival company. Actors also went on tours around the provinces. This was especially so when the plague hit London, as it did several times during Shakespeare's time and the authorities ordered the theatres to be closed.
In the next blog, I will deal with the play "All's Well That Ends Well." Comments appreciated on this and any other blog at:
wsdavidyoung@gmail.com
Some of WS's most memorable words are about actors and acting:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women are merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts. (As You Like It II.7)
and
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you,
trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines.
(Hamlet III.2)
and
Like a dull actor now
I have forgot my part and I am out,
Even to a full disgrace. (Coriolanus V.3)
and my favourite
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. (Macbeth V.6)
As mentioned in the previous blog, acting was not a respected profession. All of the actors were male as women were not allowed on the stage. The actors fell into two groups: young boys before their voices broke played the female roles while the older men played the remaining parts. The boy actors were apprentices and were taught their craft by the older actors.
All the actors had to be very versatile. In several plays they might be called on to play a soldier at the beginning of a play or a lord or servant at the end.
Since actors were not deemed reputable (often seen by the authorities as vagabonds and crooks), they organised themselves into acting companies under the patronage of an aristocrat or even King James I. Some of the most well-known companies included the Admiral's Men who were the main rivals to Shakespeare's Company and the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men). Edward Alleyn was the Admiral's Men's leading actor and Richard Burbage was his rival in the King's Men.
Other famous actors of the day included John Hemmings and Henry Condell (who later compiled the First Folio of WS's plays in 1623) Augustine Phillip, Richard Armin and Richard Crowley.
There were also several Children's companies of actors, such as, Children of the King's Revels, a short-lived company formed in c.1606. This company was formed by a syndicate which included the poet Michael Drayton. Another company was called Children of St. Paul's which was based at St. Paul's Cathedral Grammar School, while a third company was known as the Children of Windsor. In Hamlet (II.2) WS refers to these Children's companies when Hamlet asks:
What, are they children? Who maintains 'em?
How are they escoted {financially supported} Will they pursue the qualities no longer than they can sing? Will they not say afterwards, if they should grow themselves to common players...
The acting companies most important expense was the costumes. Costumes were known as 'apparel' and they were to be as magnificent as possible, especially for regal and aristocratic roles. Sometimes lords etc. donated their cast off clothes to the theatre where they would be lovingly looked after, repaired and stored by the 'tiremen' (attiremen).
Actors had to be able to think on their feet as they had little time to rehearse as the turnover of plays was extremely fast. The theatre manager, Philip Henslowe (acted by Philip Rush in Shakespeare in Love) noted that there would have been a new play almost every day and that he was producing up to 23 plays at any one time. A good actor would have to remember the lines of 20-30 plays.
A typical actor's day meant that he woke up at dawn, ate breakfast and went to the theatre. He would then have to learn any special scenes, e.g. fights and make sure he had all his props and his costume(s). Performances would take place at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the best time to catch the daylight.
Then after the Grand Finale the actor would make sure he was ready for the next day's play and rehearse until the evening when it would become too dark to continue. Then he would retire with the rest of the company to a nearby tavern to drink and gossip and then to bed.
Actors were not given the full script but only their own specific parts and its cues. This was done in order to prevent the actors selling the plays to a rival company. Actors also went on tours around the provinces. This was especially so when the plague hit London, as it did several times during Shakespeare's time and the authorities ordered the theatres to be closed.
In the next blog, I will deal with the play "All's Well That Ends Well." Comments appreciated on this and any other blog at:
wsdavidyoung@gmail.com
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