Baroque Theater

BAROQUE
THEATER
1600-1750
WHAT IS
BAROQUE
THEATER?
THE BAROQUE WAS A PERIOD IN ART HISTORY
CHARACTERIZED BY THE EXUBERANT USE OF
ORNAMENTS AND THE COMBINATION OF
DIFFERENT ARTS FOR CREATING DRAMATIC
PIECES. IT STARTED IN ITALY AFTER THE
RENAISSANCE AND EXPANDED TO MOST OF
EUROPE BETWEEN THE 17TH AND 18TH
CENTURY. THE BAROQUE WAS ENCOURAGED
BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND ALSO BY THE
WITH MANY ARTISTIC INNOVATIONS HAPPENING
DURING THE BAROQUE PERIOD, THEATERS
EVOLVED INTO MORE SOPHISTICATED AND
DRAMATIC VENUES. BOTH THE BUILDINGS AND
THE PLAYS WERE DEEPLY TRANSFORMED. THE
STUDY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PERSPECTIVE
MARKED THE EVOLUTION OF THEATER DESIGN,
AND THE FIRST OPERAS WERE CREATED,
BECOMING A NEW, WIDELY ACCEPTED GENRE.
THE THEATER OF THE BAROQUE
PERIOD IS MARKED BY THE USE OF
TECHNOLOGY IN CURRENT
BROADWAYS OR COMMERCIAL PLAYS.
THE THEATER CREW USES MACHINES
FOR SPECIAL EFFECTS AND SCENE
CHANGES WHICH MAY BE CHANGED IN
A MATTER OF SECONDS WITH THE USE
THE TECHNOLOGY AFFECTED THE CONTENT
OF THE PERFORMED PIECES, PRACTICING AT
ITS BEST THE DEUS EX MACHINA (A LATIN
WORD MEANING “GOD FROM THE MACHINE”)
SULUTIONIN WHICH THE CHARACTER GODS
WERE FINALLY ABLE TO COME DOWN FROM
THE HEAVENS AND RESCUE THE HERO IN
DANGEROUS SITUATIONS.
AS A RESULT, THE THEATER WAS
RICHLY DECORATED, THE MULTIPLICITY
OF PLOT TURNS AND A VARIETY OF
SITUATIONS CHARACTERISTICS OF
MANNERISM (A VARIETY OF
APPROACHES OR INTELLECTUAL
SOPHISTICATION AS WELL AS USING
ARTIFICIAL QUALITIES OF THE PLAY)
BAROQUE
THEATRES AND
STAGING
THE COMBINATION OF TWO ARTISTIC
INNOVATIONS—THE FORMULATION OF THE
LAWS OF PERSPECTIVE IN THE 15TH CENTURY
AND THE PRODUCTION OF THE FIRST OPERA
IN 1597—PROVIDED THE FOUNDATION FOR
THE BAROQUE THEATRE, WHICH WAS TO LAST
UNTIL THE 19TH CENTURY. DURING THIS ERA
ALL COUNTRIES WERE BROUGHT INTO THE
SAME ORBIT, ALTHOUGH ITALY REMAINED THE
THE CLASSICALLY INSPIRED DRAMA OF THE
16TH CENTURY GAVE WAY TO A VARIETY OF
ENTERTAINMENTS—INTERMEZZI, BALLET,
MASQUES, AND OPERA. THE INVENTION OF
NEW MEANS OF PRESENTING SPECTACULAR
VISUAL EFFECTS ENCOURAGED THE
INSTALLATION OF MORE AND MORE
ELABORATE MACHINERY IN THEATRE
BUILDINGS. THE RESULT WAS THAT SPECTACLE
COURT
THEATRES
THE BAROQUE ARCHITECTURAL STYLE,
BEGINNING IN ITALY AND SPREADING
ACROSS EUROPE, DOMINATED THEATRE
BUILDING BETWEEN ABOUT 1650 AND
1790. ITS CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS ARE
REFINEMENT IN DETAIL OF THE
PROSCENIUM STAGE AND OF THE
RENAISSANCE HORSESHOE-SHAPED
THE INNOVATIONSOF THE PERIOD WERE
INTRODUCED IN THE PRIVATE COURT
THEATRES. AS MANY AS FIVE SHALLOW
BALCONIES WERE STACKED VERTICALLY IN
THE AUDITORIUM. FOR THE FIRST TIME THERE
APPEARED AN ORCHESTRA PIT IN FRONT OF
THE STAGE, SUNK BELOW GROUND LEVEL.
THE STAGE FLOOR, WHICH PREVIOUSLY HAD
EXTENDED ONLY A FEW YARDS BACK FROM
WITH THE RISE OF GRAND OPERA AND BALLET,
INVENTORS AND DESIGNERS WERE CALLED UPON
TO PROVIDE INCREASINGLY ELABORATE,
PORTABLE, PERSPECTIVE SCENERY AND
COMPLICATED STAGE MACHINERY, BOTH ABOVE
AND BELOW STAGE, TO EFFECT SCENE CHANGES
(NEARLY ALWAYS CARRIED OUT IN FULL SIGHT OF
THE AUDIENCE). FAMOUS NAMES OF THIS PERIOD
INCLUDE THE ITALIANS GIACOMO TORELLI AND
THE BIBIENA FAMILY, WHOSE INGENIOUS
A RIGID COURT ETIQUETTE DICTATED THAT THE
LINES OF PERSPECTIVE SHOULD PROVIDE A
PERFECT STAGE PICTURE FROM THE POINT OF
VIEW OF THE ROYAL BOX, WHICH DIRECTLY FACED
THE STAGE. SINCE, MOREOVER, THE BUILDING OF
THEATRES WAS CONTROLLED BY THE DUCAL OR
IMPERIAL PURSE, A RIGID ARCHITECTURAL
FORMALISM, VARYING ONLY IN DETAIL, BECAME
THE FASHION, NOT TO BE BROKEN UNTIL LATE IN
THE 19TH CENTURY.
THE AUDITORIUM WAS PLANNED IN
TIERS, A VERTICAL STRATIFICATION
THAT REFLECTED THE ORDERING OF
SOCIETY BY CLASS. A GOOD
EXAMPLE IS THE FRENCH COURT
THEATRE AT VERSAILLES (1769),
DESIGNED BY KING LOUIS XV’S
FOR A COURT THEATRE, ITS STAGE IS
EXCEPTIONALLY WELL EQUIPPED,
MECHANIZED IN THE MANNER OF THE
BIBIENA FAMILY, WITH AN OVERHEAD
PULLEY SYSTEM FOR FLYING DROPS AND
BORDERS, WHILE THE FLAT WINGS AND
SHUTTERS MAKING UP THE ELABORATE
SCENE WERE MOUNTED ON FRAMES
ATTACHED TO CARRIAGES THAT RAN ON
ENGRAVINGS OF THE TIME
INDICATE THAT THE COURT
THEATRES WERE USED FOR
BALLS, CONCERTS, AND THE
LIKE, AS WELL AS FOR STAGE
THOUGH SMALL, THESE COSTLY
COURT THEATRES WITNESSED
THE FIRST PRODUCTIONS OF
MANY OPERAS BY COMPOSERS
SUCH AS HAYDN AND MOZART,
AND THEY ALSO PLAYED AN
IMPORTANT PART IN FOSTERING
THE OPERA
HOUSE
THERE WERE TWO KINDS OF PUBLIC
THEATRE IN THE 18TH CENTURY. ONE WAS A
LOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE EARLIER
PRIVATE COURT THEATRES, REFLECTING A
SOPHISTICATED, URBAN, ARISTOCRATIC
DEMAND FOR THEATRE AS ENTERTAINMENT.
THE TEATRO ALLA SCALA (1776–78) IN MILAN
IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE NUMEROUS
THEATRES ERECTED BY 18TH-CENTURY
PUBLIC THEATRES SUCH AS LA SCALA DIFFER
FROM PRIVATE COURT THEATRES ONLY IN THE
SIZE OF THE AUDITORIUM AND STAGE.
WHEREAS VERSAILLES HAD SEATED FEWER
THAN 700 IN THE AUDITORIUM, LA SCALA
COULD ACCOMMODATE MORE THAN 2,000.
OPERA, GENERALLY INCLUDING A BALLET,
WAS BY THIS TIME THE MOST POPULAR FORM
OF ENTERTAINMENT, ESPECIALLY IN ITALY.
TEATRO ALLA SCALA (LA SCALA)
THE RESTORATION PLAYHOUSE
THE OTHER KIND OF PUBLIC THEATRE,
PECULIAR TO ENGLAND, WAS THE
RESTORATION PLAYHOUSE. THE BAROQUE
HORSESHOE-SHAPED AUDITORIUM, WITH
ITS DEEP STAGE AND ORCHESTRA PIT, WAS
GENERALLY IN FAVOUR ALL OVER WESTERN
EUROPE, FIXING THE DESIGN AND STYLE OF
OPERA HOUSES IN PARTICULAR. IN IT THE
ACTOR PLAYED IN FRONT OF ELABORATELY
THE RESTORATION PLAYHOUSE,
HOWEVER, WHILE BORROWING
THE FULLY RIGGED STAGE OF THE
BAROQUE THEATRE, PROVIDED, IN
ADDITION, A DEEP APRON STAGE
THRUSTING OUT FROM THE
PROSCENIUM, UPON WHICH MOST
THUS, THE ACTOR PLAYED, AS IT
WERE, IN THE AUDITORIUM AND
AWAY FROM THE SCENIC BACKING;
THE ENGLISH, WITH THEIR
SHAKESPEAREAN TRADITION, WERE
LOATH TO ABANDON THE INTIMATE
CONTACT BETWEEN ACTOR AND
AT EITHER SIDE OF THE FORESTAGE
WERE DOORS BY WHICH ACTORS
ENTERED; ABOVE THESE DOORS
WERE ADDITIONAL BOXES, FOR
SPECTATORS, STACKED ONE ABOVE
THE OTHER IN THE BAROQUE
MANNER.

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BAROQUE

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