The Development of Drama
Luca Manoni 3*E ✏ 
Origins
Why? To commemorate great Christian events
Where?
In the nave of the churches at the first, but soon they moved outside
Who?
Lay people took the place of monks and priest in this performance called 'Mystery Plays'
Reasons for Development
Elizabethan Age characterised by a wide range of interest and vitality of language
Public performances illegal in London: theatres built in the South Bank, a place easily accessible.
Drama became the main form of Elizabethan art
The structure of Elizabethan theatres 
First theatre in 1576 by James Burbage
An Apron Stage
The Shadow that protected players from the rain
The Pit, were the groundlings stood
The Trap Door, that was used for devilish apparitions and disappearances
Three tiers of roofed galleries
A Tiring House, were actors changed their costumes
Circular or Octagonal
The Inner stage
An Upper Stage
Elizabethan and Modern Theatres 
Structure of the stage considerably affected the form of Elizabeth plays
Modern theatre: -actors separated from the audience by a curtain -Act in bright light
Shakespeare's times theatres
There was no Scenary
The device of the soliloquy was a natural way for a character to explain his thoughts and intension
The stage relied on conventions using a limited number of props
The action was continuous
Time and locality usually mentioned in the dialogue
No woman in the act
A scene ended whe a character left the stage and a new came on
Sources
Elizabethan theatre also influenced by Greek Tragedies and the Latin philosopher and tragedian Seneca
Thanks to spread of translations, Italian plays became the sources of much Elizabethan theatre, together with the influence of Italian "Commedia dell'Arte".
The english stage owed musch also to the works of Niccolò Macchiavelli in the display of horrors, unnatural crimes, vice and corruption
Division of the plays in 5 acts
making good rhetoric
taste of the revenge
Tragic and bloody incidents
Allegorical types of characters and situations