What was it like to be alive in Elizabethan times?

Answer 1

It was not fun; in fact, it was one of the worst things to choose as your profession at this time period. Actors were often looked uon with suspicion due to their traveling (which their job required) and were thought to be potential carriers of the Bubonic Plague (which was often on outbreak at this time).

Furthermore, they were often subject to unlawful arrest and punishment due to accusations from anyone who found foul against them and were even allowed to be arrested with no reason at all behind it.

Also, in order to be an actor (and travel) they had to have a license for each and were often subject to search. They were extremely poor and were barely higher up in the social class than beggars.

And when it came to their performances themselves, they were often rushed for time- forced to perform something new every day or so in order to keep their audience from becoming bored with them. And since they had no artificial light, all their plays had to be performed in the morning. Also, it was illegal for women to perform as actors because they were often accused of being prostitues, resulting with boys and young men (those whose voices have yet to break) to perform the female roles.

Answer 2

Theatre did a lot of growing up during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Prior to her reign, there were miracle and mystery plays of a religious nature, performed by amateurs at country fairs, and Latin plays, read by scholars, and professional jesters and entertainers, such as Will Somers, Jane Foole, and various jugglers and tumblers.

During the long reign of Elizabeth, these several strands coalesced into a distinctively English theatrical tradition. This process started with the early comedies Ralph Roister Doister and Gammer Gurton's Needle, and the tragedy Gorboduc, using a Latin format but written in English blank verse. These plays were written by academics and are awkward on stage.

One of the main factors in the development of drama was the patronage of theatre groups by noblemen, starting in the 1560s. At first these were disorganized groups of acrobats and comedians, but legislation passed in 1572 ensured that any group of actors had free rein to perform provided that they had an aristocratic patron. These patrons did not meddle in the day-to-day workings of the group, which could then become a professional group without fear of harassment from the law.

At the same time, the idea that a building might be built specifically for the performance of plays began to take root. The Red Lion, the first such playhouse, was built in 1567, but was not a financial success. With some tweaking of the business model, and the growth of permanent professional companies, a second dedicated playhouse, The Theatre, opened successfully in 1576, and a third, The Curtain in 1577.

Full-time professional theatre companies needed new scripts all the time, and thus new playwrights were encouraged to write for the stage. This resulted in the remarkably profuse outpouring of Elizabethan drama, and a rapid increase in its quality, starting in the late 1580s with Christopher Marlowe's powerful dramatic tragedies, and his contemporary "university wits". The competition between the main dramatic companies in London: The Lord Admiral's Men, The Lord Chamberlain's Men and Worcester's Men led the companies to seek out the best scripts, and the number of available scripts, new ones being introduced every two weeks or so, meant that the companies were able to better and better understand what worked and what didn't by trial and error.

Answer 3

Some of the men played the role of a woman playing a man. This took great skill and imagination.

Their role not as above, was to inform and educate and to make the audience laugh. Men played the part of a woman, because women were not allowed to be actresses.. Females on stage were classed as prostitutes.

Answer 4

the theater had stools to sit on and they would probably cost 1 penny and there were stools on the stage that's ten times the normal stool and the show had guys playing women parts because women were not allowed to be in a show.

Answer 5

The life of a playwright wouldn't have been easy in those times, just like everyone else. However, it was an amazing time to be a playwright because it was an era where plays and theatrical production were on the rise and buildings for the purpose of performing these were being built. Being a playwright was starting to become popular amongst many creative individuals because it was starting to prove itself able to be a viable career.

Answer 6

it was when Shakespeare was around so probably quite dirty rough and with lots of poor people

Answer 7

i know this don't really help but we live in Elizabethan times now hence the nameof our queen

Answer 8

bobo