Renaissance Stage

As we've been reading Cyrano de Bergerac, it's been a bit difficult imagining the stage and the surroundings because it's not a stage that we're accustomed to seeing. So today we watched a video about the Renaissance stage. I learned how Renaissance stages have a decorated, architectural facade and a semi-circular auditorium. This facade would be broken by a large door and there would be a wide open stage in front of the facade. On the perimeter at the top of the theatre were statues of Olympian gods. The modern illusionistic stage used perspective to make the object and space seem ethereal. Everyone demanded these perspective settings especially the noble patrons. The stage and the scenery created a square whereas the stage and the audience created a rectangle. The theatre was meant to be a microcosm of the real and ideal world.

In addition to the stage I learned how the early church had once disapproved of the decadent theatre. Despite this the Roman Academy which was interested in the arts and the sciences revived ancient drama. Also, in 1556 Palladio produced the most thorough depiction of ancient Roman theatre.