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It's likely that if we were to see performances in Elizabethan England we would find them very stilted and affected, but during Shakespeare's time there was a definite move towards acting in a more natural way. Until just a few years before Shakespeare started his career in the theatre, plays were typically of a sort called "morality" plays or "miracle" plays and masques. These were primarily rhetorical and allegorical, appealing to intellect rather than emotion for the most part. It was only in the latter half of the sixteenth century in which most actors began performing in ways that were meant to imitate life and evoke a variety of emotions - they were beginning, in Hamlet's words, to hold a "mirror up to nature" . From Hamlet's directions to the acting troupe you can get an idea of how performers used to act and how the notions of good performances were shifting towards more natural methods:
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 had spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently . . . Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor. Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature.
(Hamlet, III, ii, 1-18)
Shakespeare's sentiments here are perhaps the best indication of how a quality performance was judged by people back then.
There were also famous actors just as there are today. Celebrities who, once they gained fame, were given the best roles and drew bigger audiences.
Some of Shakespeare's earliest involvement with the theatre was as an actor.
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What was the name of the group of people who always perform in Shakespeares plays?
Actors. The performers in any play are called actors.
What was shakespeares time in work like?
he was a playwright poet and actor he was a dude
What job did a constable do in shakespeares time?
He was a policeman of sorts.
The cultural influences in William Shakespeares time?
what was the culture of the people in shakespeare time
Who played all the roles during shakespeares time?
Males
What was the name of the group of people who always perform in Shakespeares plays?
Actors. The performers in any play are called actors.
What were theartres like in William shakespeares time?
In his time, young boys did the role of ladies.
What was shakespeares time in work like?
he was a playwright poet and actor he was a dude
What were the trousers called in shakespeares time?
strossers
What was shakespeares life like by 1592?
He was living in London, a full-time actor trying to make a break into the playwriting business.
What job did a constable do in shakespeares time?
He was a policeman of sorts.
The cultural influences in William Shakespeares time?
what was the culture of the people in shakespeare time
Could you eat and drink in the theatre?
Yes, in Shakespeares time.
Who was two great explorers of shakespeares time?
donit know
Who played all the roles during shakespeares time?
Males
What time of day were William shakespeares plays?
3:pm
What was the population of stratford upon Avon in shakespeares time?
The population of Stratford-upon-Avon during Shakespeare's time is estimated to have been around 1,500 to 2,000 people. It was a small market town located in rural England.
