THEA 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: House Of Stuart, Restoration Comedy, Victorian Era
3/14/18
Melodrama
• Today is the favorite class (like the favorite child in a large family)
• In-class performance – Under the Gaslight Act 4 Scene 3
o Became a troupe (see people tied to railroad tracks all the time now)
• Melodramas were spectacular (made of spectacle) and were intended for huge theaters
o 4,000 seats plus
o The 4th Drury Lane Theatre (in London) – built in 1812
▪ All the others (and this one) burned down
▪ This is where this play was performed
• Real train on stage
• Live horses running on stage
• Volcano exploding on stage
▪ Larger than Metropolitan Opera House in New York
o How did we get from Elizabethan Theatre to Proscenium Theatre?
▪ Proscenium Arch (archway in front of the scenery), Stage (in back of
arch), Apron (in front of arch – acting area)
• Medieval Art v. Renaissance Art
o Renaissance Art has perspective and depth of field – MAGIC!
o Serlio’s sketch of a tragic setting (1545)
▪ Arrival of perspective painting and scenery
• Between the Restoration theatre of the Stuart monarchs (17th century) and the
Melodramas of the Victorian Era (19th century) was the theatrically transitional era of the
Hanovarians. Their theatre was a kinder and more respectable type of Comedy of
Manners (more respectable than Restoration Comedy) known today as “Georgian
Comedy” (18th century)
• Stuart Dynasty Reign Timeline
o Charles II (1660 – 1685)
▪ No real heir to the throne
o James II (1685 – 1688)
▪ Charles’s brother
▪ Openly Catholic – not accepted by Protestant public
▪ Went into exile
o William and Mary (1689 – 1702)
▪ Mary is James’s daughter
▪ William is Mary’s cousin
▪ No heir to throne (all kids die early)
o Anne I (1702 – 1707)
▪ All 17 children die before age 8
• Hanover Dynasty Reign Timeline
o King George I (1714 – 1727)
▪ Doesn’t bother to learn English
▪ Prime Minister starts to run country
▪ Increase in middle class
o King George II (1727 – 1760)
