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The Elizabethan era was a time associated with Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558–1603) and is often considered to be the golden age in English history. It was the height of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of English poetry, music and literature. This was also the time during which Elizabethan theatre flourished, and William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style of plays and theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad.

The theatre as a public amusement was an innovation in the social life of the Elizabethans, and it immediately took the general fancy. Like that of Greece or Spain, it developed with amazing rapidity. London's first theater was built when Shakespeare was about twelve years old; and the whole system of the Elizabethan theatrical world came into being during his lifetime. The great popularity of plays of all sorts led to the building of playhouses both public and private, to the organization of innumerable companies of players both amateur and professional, and to countless difficulties connected with the authorship and licensing of plays. Companies of actors were kept at the big baronial estates of Lord Oxford, Lord Buckingham and others. Many strolling troupes went about the country playing wherever they could find welcome. They commonly consisted of three, or at most four men and a boy, the latter to take the women's parts. They gave their plays in pageants, in the open squares of the town, in the halls of noblemen and other gentry, or in the courtyards of inns.

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The control of these various companies soon became a problem to the community. Some of the troupes, which had the impudence to call themselves "Servants" of this or that lord, were composed of low characters, little better than vagabonds, causing much trouble to worthy citizens. The sovereign attempted to regulate matters by granting licenses to the aristocracy for the maintenance of troupes of players, who might at any time be required to show their credentials. For a time it was also a rule that these performers should appear only in the halls of their patrons; but this requirement, together with many other regulations, was constantly ignored. The playwrights of both the Roman and the Protestant faith used the stage as a sort of forum for the dissemination of their opinions; and it was natural that such practices should often result in quarrels and disturbances. During the reign of Mary*, the rules were strict, especially those relating to the production of such plays as The Four P's, on the ground that they encouraged too much freedom of thought and criticism of public affairs. On the other hand, during this period the performance of the mysteries was urged, as being one of the means of teaching true religion.

Elizabeth granted the first royal patent to the Servants of the Earl of Leicester in 1574. These "Servants" were James Burbage and four partners; and they were empowered to play "comedies, tragedies, interludes, stage-plays and other such-like" in London and in all other towns and boroughs in the realm of England; except that no representation could be given during the time for Common Prayer*, or during a time of "great and common Plague in our sad city of London." Under Elizabeth political and religious subjects were forbidden on the stage.

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In the meantime, respectable people and officers of the Church* frequently made complaint of the growing number of play-actors and shows. They said that the plays were often lewd and profane, that play-actors were mostly vagrant, irresponsible, and immoral people; that taverns and disreputable houses were always found in the neighborhood of the theaters, and that the theater itself was a public danger in the way of spreading disease. The streets were overcrowded after performances; beggars and loafers infested the theater section, crimes occurred in the crowd, and prentices played truant in order to go to the play. These and other charges were constantly being renewed, and in a measure they were all justly founded. Elizabeth's policy was to compromise. She regulated the abuses, but allowed the players to thrive. One order for the year 1576 prohibited all theatrical performances within the city boundaries; but it was not strictly enforced. The London Corporation generally stood against the players; but the favor of the queen and nobility, added to the popular taste, in the end proved too much for the Corporation. Players were forbidden to establish themselves in the city, but could not be prevented from building their playhouses just across the river, outside the jurisdiction of the Corporation and yet within easy reach of the play-going public.

This compromise, however, did not end the criticism of the public. Regulations and restrictions were constantly being imposed or renewed; and, no doubt, as constantly broken. In the end this intermittent hostility to the theater acted as a sort of beneficent censorship. The more unprincipled of the actors and playwrights were held in check by the fear of losing what privileges they had, while the men of ability and genius found no real hindrance to their activity. Whatever the reason, the English stage was far purer and more wholesome than either the French or Italian stage in the corresponding era of development. However much in practice the laws were evaded or broken, the drama maintained a comparatively manly and decent standard.

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In 1578 six companies were granted permission by special order of the queen to perform plays. They were the Children of the Chapel Royal, Children of Saint Paul's, the Servants of the Lord Chamberlain, Servants of Lords Warwick, Leicester, and Essex. The building of the playhouses outside the city had already begun in 1576.

This banishment was not a misfortune, but one of the causes of immediate growth. There was room for as many theaters as the people desired; a healthy rivalry was possible. In Shoreditch were built the Theater and the Curtain. At Blackfriars* the Servants of Lord Leicester had their house, modeled roughly after the courtyard of an inn, and built of wood. Twenty years later it was rebuilt by a company which numbered Shakespeare among its members. In the meantime, the professional actor gained something in the public esteem, and occasionally became a recognized and solid member of society. Theatrical companies were gradually transformed from irregular associations of men dependent on the favor of a lord, to stable business organizations; and in time the professional actor and the organized company triumphed completely over the stroller and the amateur.

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The number of playhouses steadily increased. Besides the three already mentioned, there were in Southwark* the Hope, the Rose, the Swan, and Newington Butts, on whose stage The Jew of Malta*, The Taming of the Shrew*, and Tamburlaine* had their premieres. At the Red Bull* some of John Heywood`s* plays appeared. Most famous of all were the Globe, built in 1598 by Richard Burbage*, and the Fortune, built in 1599. The Globe was hexagonal without, circular within, a roof extending over the stage only. The audience stood in the yard, or pit, or sat in the boxes built around the walls. Sometimes the young gallants sat on the stage. The first Globe was burned in 1613 and rebuilt by King James and some of his noblemen. It was this theater which, in the latter part of their career, was used by Shakespeare and Burbage in summer. In winter they used the Blackfriars in the city. At the end of the reign of Elizabeth there were eleven theaters in London, including public and private houses. Various members of the royal family were the ostensible patrons of the new companies. The boys of the choirs and Church schools were trained in acting; and sometimes they did better than their elders.

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Scholars and critics have inherited an almost endless number of literary puzzles from the Elizabethan age. A play might be written, handed over to the manager of a company of actors, and produced with or without the author's name. In many instances the author forgot or ignored all subsequent affairs connected with it. If changes were required, perhaps it would be given to some well known playwright to be "doctored" before the next production. Henslowe*, who had an interest in several London theaters, continuously employed playwrights, famous and otherwise, in working out new, promising material for his actors. Most dramatists of the time served an apprenticeship, in which they did anything they were asked to do. Sometimes they made the first draft of a piece which would be finished by a more experienced hand; sometimes they collaborated with another writer; or they gave the finishing touches to a new play; or revamped a Spanish, French, or Italian piece in an attempt to make it more suitable for the London public.

The plays were the property, not of the author, but of the acting companies. Aside from the costly costumes, they formed the most valuable part of the company's capital. The parts were learned by the actors, and the manuscript locked up. If the piece became popular, rival managers often stole it by sending to the performance a clerk who took down the lines in shorthand. Neither authors nor managers had any protection from pirate publishers, who frequently issued copies of successful plays without the consent of either. Many cases of missing or mutilated scenes, faulty lines or confused grammar may be laid to the door of these copy brigands. In addition to this, after the play had had a London success, it was cut down, both in length and in the number of parts, for the use of strolling players - a fact which of course increased the chances of mutilation.

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Public performances generally took place in the afternoon, beginning about three o'clock and lasting perhaps two hours. Candles were used when daylight began to fade. The beginning of the play was announced by the hoisting of a flag and the blowing of a trumpet. There were playbills, those for tragedy being printed in red. Often after a serious piece a short farce was also given; and at the close of the play the actors, on their knees, recited an address to the king or queen. The price of entrance varied with the theater, the play, and the actors; but it was roughly a penny to sixpence for the pit, up to half a crown for a box. A three-legged stool on the stage at first cost sixpence extra; but this price was later doubled.

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The house itself was not unlike a circus, with a good deal of noise and dirt. Servants, grooms, prentices and mechanics jostled each other in the pit, while more or less gay companies filled the boxes. Women of respectability were few, yet sometimes they did attend; and if they were very careful of their reputations they wore masks. On the stage, which ran far out into the auditorium, would be seated a few of the early gallants, playing cards, smoking, waited upon by their pages; and sometimes eating nuts or apples and throwing things out among the crowd. At first there was little music, but soon players of instruments were added to the company. The stage was covered with straw or rushes. There may have been a painted wall with trees and hedges, or a castle interior with practicable furniture. A placard announced the scene. Stage machinery seems never to have been out of use, though in the early Elizabethan days it was probably primitive. The audience was near and could view the stage from three sides, so that no "picture" was possible, as in the tennis-court stage of Paris. Whatever effects were gained were the result of the gorgeous and costly costumes of the actors, together with the art and skill with which they were able to invest their roles. The inn-court type of stage required a bold, declamatory method in acting and speaking; and these requirements were no doubt speedily reflected in the style of the playwrights.

England was the last of the European countries to accept women on the stage. In the year 1629 a visiting company of French players gave performances at Blackfriars, with actresses. An English writer of the time called these women "monsters"; and the audience would have none of them. They were hissed and "pippin-pelted" from the stage. Boy actors were immensely popular, and the schools were actually the training ground for many well-known comedians and tragedians. The stigma of dishonor rested, however, upon the whole profession, playwrights, players, and on the theater itself. The company in the pit was rough, likely to smell of garlic and to indulge in rude jests. The plays were often coarse and boisterous, closely associated with bear-baiting and cock-fighting. Playwrights and actors belonged to a bohemian, half-lawless class. The gallants who frequented the play led fast lives, and were constantly charged with the corruption of innocence.

Comparison between an Elizabethan and an Athenian performance affords interesting contrasts and similarities. The Athenian festival was part of an important religious service, for which men of affairs gave their time and money. Every sort of government support was at its disposal, and manuscripts were piously preserved. All this was contrary to the practice of the Elizabethans, who tried to suppress the shows, lost many of their most precious manuscripts, and banished the plays to a place outside the city walls. In both countries, however, the audiences were made up of all classes of people who freely expressed their liking or disapproval. In each country the period of dramatic activity followed close upon the heels of great military and naval victories; and the plays of both countries reflect the civil and national pride.

TEXT E

1. Explain the following words and expression from the text. Translate them into Russian:

witticism, in the full tide of one`s success, exert influence upon smb, an ardent lover, be almost beyond recognition, refurbish, acquire a political slant, bombastic sentiments, strutting figures, a hilarious burlesque, scurrilous, an overblown style, profligate, busybody, denunciation, lewdness, wrought up.

2.Fill in the prepositions:

1.He was wrought up _______ the coming conference.

2.Mike is steeped _______ science – he is writing a thesis.

3.Teaching is Mary`s vocation, she has a tender heart _______ children.

4.She gave in _______ the face of public opposition.

5.He felt inferior _______ them.

3.Which of the problems enumerated below are touched upon in the text and which are not? Which other problems, besides those mentioned below, are dealt with in the text? What are the arguments and facts which the author puts forward in order to support his point of view?

WOMEN PLAYWRIGHTS

PARODY OF HEROIC DRAMA

BRITISH PANTOMIME

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DISAPPEARANCE OF NATIONAL TYPES

NATURE OF RESTORATION TRAGEDY

COLLIER'S ATTACK ON THE STAGE

PERSISTENCE OF ELIZABETHAN PLAYS

3.Answer the questions:

What was Restoration drama blamed for by the puritans?

In what way did Restoration drama differ from the Elizabethan one?

What is the name of Davenant known for?

Why did Restoration drama acquire a political slant?

What was the national type of play substituted for?

What was characteristic of Restoration comedies?

What play is noted as marking the entrance of women upon the English stage?

4.Speak about Restoration drama with the use of mindmaps (A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing. The elements of a given mind map are arranged intuitively according to the importance of the concepts, and are classified into groupings, branches, or areas, with the goal of representing semantic or other connections between portions of information. Mind maps may also aid recall of existing memories.) It may look like this:

Playwrights

Genres

	Restoration
…	drama	…

RESTORATION* DRAMA

From 1642 onward for eighteen years, the theaters of England remained nominally closed under the influence of the Puritans. There was of course evasion of the law; but whatever performances were offered had to be given in secrecy, before small companies in private houses, or in taverns located three or four miles out of town. No actor or spectator was safe, especially during the early days of the Puritan rule. Least of all was there any inspiration for dramatists. In 1660 the Stuart dynasty was restored to the throne of England. Charles II, the king, had been in France during the greater part of the Protectorate, together with many of the royalist party, all of whom were familiar with Paris and its fashions. Thus it was natural, upon the return of the court, that French influence should be felt, particularly in the theater. In August, 1660, Charles issued patents for two companies of players, and performances immediately began. Certain writers, in the field before the civil war, survived the period of theatrical eclipse, and now had their chance. Among these were Thomas Killigrew* and William Davenant*, who were quickly provided with fine playhouses.

It will be remembered that great indignation was aroused among the English by the appearance of French actresses in 1629. London must have learned to accept this innovation, however, for in one of the semi-private entertainments given during the Protectorate at Rutland House*, the actress Mrs. Coleman took the principal part. The Siege of Rhodes, a huge spectacle designed by Davenant in 1656 (arranged in part with a view of evading the

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restrictions against theatrical plays) is generally noted as marking the entrance of women upon the English stage. It is also remembered for its use of movable machinery, which was something of an innovation.

By the time the theaters were reopened in England the neo-classic standard for tragedy had been established in France and French playwrights for a time supplied the English with plots. From this time on every European nation was influenced by, and exerted an influence upon, the drama of every other nation. Characters, situations, plots, themes - these things traveled from country to country, always modifying and sometimes supplanting the home product.

With this influx of foreign drama, there was still a steady production of the masterpieces of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. The diarist Samuel Pepys, an ardent lover of the theater, relates that during the first three years after the opening of the playhouses he saw Othello*, Henry IV, A Midsummer Night`s Dream*, two plays by Ben Jonson*, and others by English playwrights. It must have been about this time that the practice of "improving" Shakespeare was begun, and his plays were often altered so as to be almost beyond recognition. From the time of the Restoration actors and managers, also dramatists, were good royalists; and new pieces, or refurbished old ones, were likely to acquire a political slant. The Puritans were satirized, the monarch and his wishes were flattered, and the royal order thoroughly supported by the people of the stage.

In almost every important respect, Restoration drama was far inferior to the Elizabethan. Where the earlier playwrights created powerful and original characters, the Restoration writers were content to portray repeatedly a few artificial types; where the former were imaginative, the latter were clever and ingenious. The Elizabethan dramatists were steeped in poetry, the later ones in the sophistication of the fashionable world. The drama of Wycherley* and Congreve* was the reflection of a small section of life, and it was like life in the same sense that the mirage is like the oasis. It had polish, an edge, a perfection in its own field; but both its perfection and its naughtiness now seem unreal.

The heroes of the Restoration comedies were lively gentlemen of the city, profligates and loose livers, with a strong tendency to make love to their neighbors' wives. Husbands and fathers were dull, stupid creatures. The heroines, for the most part, were lovely and pert, too frail for any purpose beyond the glittering tinsel in which they were clothed. Their companions were busybodies and gossips, amorous widows or jealous wives. The intrigues which occupy them are not, on the whole, of so low a nature as those depicted in the Italian court comedies; but still they are sufficiently coarse. Over all the action is the gloss of superficial good breeding and social ease. Only rarely do these creatures betray the traits of sympathy, faithfulness, kindness, honesty, or loyalty. They follow a life of pleasure, bored, but yawning behind a delicate fan or a kerchief of lace. Millamant and Mirabell, in Congreve's Way of the World*, are among the most charming of these Watteau figures*.

Everywhere in the Restoration plays are traces of European influence. The national taste was coming into harmony, to a considerable extent, with the standards of Europe. Eccentricities were curbed; ideas, characters, and story material were interchanged. The plays, however, were not often mere imitations; in the majority of them there is original observation and independence of thought. It was this drama that kept the doors of the theater open and the love of the theater alive in the face of great public opposition.

Soon after the Restoration women began to appear as writers of drama. Mrs. Aphra Behn (1640-1689) was one of the first and most industrious of English women playwrights. Her novel Oroonooko or, the Royal Slave*, is one of the very early novels in English of the particular sort that possesses a linear plot and follows a biographical model. It is a mixture of theatrical drama, reportage, and biography that is easy to recognize as a novel. Also Oroonoko is the first English novel to show Black Africans in a sympathetic manner. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Behn was for a time employed by the British government in a political capacity. She was the author of eighteen plays, most of them highly successful and fully as indecent as any by Wycherley or Vanbrugh*.

Although the Puritans had lost their dominance as a political power, yet they had not lost courage in abusing the stage. The most violent attack was made by the clergyman Jeremy Collier in 1698, in a pamphlet called A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage, in which he denounced not only Congreve and Vanbrugh, but Shakespeare and most of the Elizabethans. Three points especially drew forth his denunciations: the socalled lewdness of the plays, the frequent references to the Bible and biblical characters, and the criticism, slander and abuse flung from the stage upon the clergy. He would not have any Desdemona, however chaste, show her love before the footlights; he would allow no reference in a comedy to anything connected with the Church or religion; and especially would he prohibit any portrayal of the clergy. Next to the men in holy orders, Collier had a tender heart for the nobility. He said in effect that if any ridicule or satire were to be indulged in, it should be against persons of low quality. To call a duke a rascal on the stage was far worse than to apply such an epithet to plain Hodge, almost as libelous as to represent a clergyman as a hypocrite. Collier made the curiously stupid error of accusing the playwrights of glorifying all the sins, passions, or peculiarities which they portrayed in their characters. He had no understanding of the point of view of the literary artist, nor any desire to understand it.

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Collier's attack, unjust as it was, and foolish as certain phases of it appear today, yet it made an impression. The king, James II, was so wrought up over it that he issued a solemn proclamation "against vice and profaneness." Congreve and Vanbrugh, together with other writers, were persecuted, and fines were imposed on some of the most popular actors and actresses. Dryden*, Congreve and Vanbrugh made an attempt at a justification of the stage, but it did little good. The public buzzed with the scandal set forth in The Short View, but did not stay away altogether from the playhouses. The poets answered the attack not by reformation, but by new plays in which the laughter, the satire, and the ridicule were turned upon their enemies.

RENDERING:

ТЕАТРАЛЬНАЯ ТЕХНИКА В ЭПОХУ ШЕКСПИРА

Render the text into English.

Театральная техника в эпоху Шекспира — шекспировскому театру несомненно соответствует система спектакля, первоначально устраивавшегося труппами бродячих комедиантов на постоялых и гостиничных дворах; эти гостиничные дворы обычно представляли собой здание, обнесенное по второму этажу открытым ярусом-балконом, по которому располагались комнаты и входы в них. Бродячая труппа, въехав в такой двор, у одного из прямоугольников стен его устраивала сцену; во дворе и на балконе располагались зрители.

Сцена устраивалась в виде дощатого помоста на козлах, часть которого выходила на открытый двор, а другая, задняя, оставалась под балконом. С балкона опускалась завеса. Таким образом сразу образовались три площадки: передняя — впереди балкона, задняя — под балконом за завесой и верхняя — самый балкон над сценой. Этот же принцип положен и в основу переходной формы английского театра XVI, начала XVII веков.

Первый публичный стационарный театр был сооружен в Лондоне (вернее за Лондоном, вне городской черты, так как в черте города устройство театров не разрешалось) в 1576 актёрской семьей Бэрбеджей. Театр Бэрбеджей, — будем его называть шекспировским или елизаветинским театром, — не знает ещё зрительного зала, а знает зрительный двор (yard), как реминисценцию гостиничных дворов. Такой открытый, не имеющий крыши зрительный двор, обносился галереей или двумя галереями. Сцена покрывалась крышей и представляла собой те же три площадки гостиничного двора.

Передняя часть сцены вклинялась почти на треть в зрительный двор — стоячий партер (осуществлявший таким образом буквально свое название «par terre» — на земле). Наполнявшая партер демократическая часть публики густым кольцом окружала и подмостки сцены. Более привилегированная, аристократическая часть публики располагалась, — лежа и на табуретках, — на самой сценической площадке по краям её. История театра этого времени отмечает постоянную вражду и перебранку, иногда переходившую даже в драку, этих двух групп зрителей. Классовая вражда ремесленного и рабочего партера к аристократии сказывалась здесь довольно шумно. Вообще, той тишины, какую знает наш зрительный зал, в театре Шекспира не было.

Задняя часть сцены отделялась раздвижным занавесом. Там обычно исполнялись интимные сцены (например, в спальне Дездемоны), там же играли, когда нужно было сразу быстро перенести действие в другое место и показать действующее лицо в новом положении (например, в драме Марло «Тамерлан» есть ремарка: «занавес отдернут, и Зенократа лежит в постели, Тамерлан, сидящий возле неё», или в «Зимней сказке» Шекспира: «Полина отдергивает занавес и открывает Гермиону, стоящую в виде статуи»).

Передняя площадка была главной сценой, ей же пользовались для излюбленных тогда в театре шествий, процессий, для показа чрезвычайно популярного тогда фехтования (сцена в последнем акте «Гамлета»). Здесь же выступали клоуны, жонглеры, акробаты, развлекавшие публику между сценами основной пьесы (антрактов в шекспировском театре не было). Впоследствии при позднейшей литературной обработке шекспировских драм часть этих клоунад-интермедий и шутовских реплик была включена в печатный текст.

Каждый спектакль заканчивался обязательно «джигой» — особого рода песенкой с пляской, исполняемой клоуном; сцена могильщиков в «Гамлете» во времена Шекспира была клоунадой, патетикой её наполнили потом. В шекспировском театре ещё нет резкой разницы между драматическим актёром и акробатом, шутом. Правда, эта разница уже вырабатывается, ощущается, она в становлении. Но грани ещё не стерты. Связь, соединяющая шекспировского актёра с скоморохом, гистрионом, жонглёром, шутовским «чёртом» средневековой мистерии, с фарсовым буффоном, ещё не порвана. Вполне понятно, почему котельщик из «Укрощения строптивой» при слове «комедия» прежде всего вспоминает фокусы жонглера.

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Верхняя сцена употреблялась, когда действие должно было изображаться логикой событий наверху, например, на стенах крепости («Кориолан»), на балконе Джульетты («Ромео и Джульетта»). В таких случаях в сценарии имеется ремарка «наверху». Практиковалась, например, такая планировка — верх изображал крепостную стену, а отдернутый внизу занавес задней площадки означал одновременно городские ворота, открываемые перед победителем.

Такой системой театра объясняется и структура шекспировских драм, не знающих ещё ни деления на акты (деление это было проделано уже после смерти Шекспира, в изд. 1623), ни точного историзма, ни изобразительного реализма. Столь характерный для елизаветинских драматургов параллелизм фабул в одной и той же пьесе объясняется в последнее время своеобразным устройством сцены, открытой для зрителей с трёх сторон. На этой сцене господствует так называемый закон «временной непрерывности».

Развитие одной фабулы давало возможность другой как бы продолжаться «за кулисами», чем заполнялся соответствующий промежуток «театрального времени» между отрезками данной фабулы. Построенное на коротких активно-игровых эпизодах действие с условной быстротой переносится с места на место. В этом сказывается ещё традиция мистериальных сцен.

Так новый выход того же лица, а то и просто несколько шагов по сцене с соответствующим текстовым объяснением обозначали уже новое место. Например в «Много шуму из ничего» Бенедикт говорит мальчику: «у меня в комнате на окне лежит книга, принеси её сюда, в сад» — это обозначает, что действие происходит в саду. Иногда в произведениях Шекспира место или время указано не столь упрощенно, а целым поэтическим описанием его. Это один из его излюбленных приемов.

Несколько шагов Ромео с друзьями обозначали, что он перешёл с улицы в дом. Для обозначения места употреблялись также «титлы» — дощечки с надписью. Иногда сцена изображала сразу несколько городов, и достаточно было надписей с названием их, чтобы зритель ориентировался в действии. С окончанием сцены действующие лица уходили с площадки, иногда даже оставались — так, например, замаскированные гости, идущие по улице в дом Капулетти («Ромео и Джульетта»), не уходили со сцены, а появление лакеев с салфетками означало, что они уже пришли и находятся в покоях Капулетти.

Драма в это время не рассматривалась как «литература». Драматург за авторством не гнался, да и не всегда это было возможно. Традиция анонимной драмы шла от средневековья чрез бродячие труппы и продолжала ещё действовать. Так имя Шекспира появляется под названиями его пьес только в 1593. То, что писал театральный драматург, он не предназначал для печати, а имел в виду исключительно театр.

Значительная часть драматургов елизаветинской эпохи была прикреплена к определенному театру и брала на себя обязательство доставлять этому театру репертуар. Конкуренция трупп требовала огромного количества пьес. За период с 1558 по 1643 количество их исчисляют в Англии цифрой свыше 2 000 названий.

Очень часто одну и ту же пьесу пользует ряд трупп, переделывая каждую на свой лад, приспособляя её к труппе. Анонимное авторство исключало литературный плагиат, и речь могла идти только о «пиратских» способах конкуренции, когда пьесу крадут на слух, по приблизительной записи и т. п. И в шекспировском творчестве мы знаем ряд пьес, являвшихся использованием сюжетов ранее существовавших драм. Таковы, например, «Гамлет», «Король Лир» и другие.

Публика имени автора пьесы и не требовала. Это в свою очередь вело к тому, что написанная пьеса являлась только «основой» для спектакля, авторский текст во время репетиций переделывался как угодно. Выступления шутов авторы часто обозначают ремаркой «говорит шут», предоставляя содержание шутовской сцены театру или импровизации самого шута. Автор продавал свою рукопись театру и в дальнейшем уже никаких авторских претензий и прав на неё не заявлял. Весьма распространена была совместная и тем самым очень быстрая работа нескольких авторов над одной пьесой, например, одни разрабатывали драматическую интригу, другие — комическую часть, выходки шутов, третьи изображали всякого рода «страшные» эффекты, которые были тогда очень в ходу, и т. д.

К концу эпохи, в начале XVII века, уже начинает пробиваться на сцену литературная драма. Отчужденность между «учёными» авторами, светскими «дилетантами» и профессиональными драматургами становится все меньше. Литературные авторы (например, Бен Джонсон) начинают работать для театра, театральные драматурги в свою очередь все чаще начинают печататься.

TRANSLATION: ТЕАТР В АНГЛИИ

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Translate the text into English.

Вильям Шекспир сыграл немаловажную роль в развитии английского театра. Он сумел суммировать все достижения драматургической культуры нового и древнего времени. Он помог раскрыть внутренний человеческий мир с помощью культуры театра. Английский театр благодаря Шекспиру начал свою стремительно развивающуюся деятельность и известен до сих пор. Театр Шекспира больше склонялся к реализму. Шекспир имел народные и национальные традиции, которым не изменял. Несмотря на противоречие времен, английский театр развивался стремительно быстро и имел немалый успех у зрителя.

Английский театр развился позже, чем испанский и итальянский, однако это не помешало ему стать достоянием английской культуры. Зрелость этого театра была несоизмерима с его молодостью. Английский театр сегодня - это огромный шаг к мировой культуре.

Немалую роль в развитии театра играет, конечно, драматургия. Она зародилась, после того как в Англию пришло христианство, это было в 7 веке. Ранее драматургию можно было найти лишь в весенних праздниках, когда провожали зиму и встречали лето. Англичане проводили представления, которые драматургией назвать трудно. Однако позже драматургия развилась на столько, что английский театр трудно без неё представить.

Вместе с академической драматургией возникла демократическая драматургия. Этот вид драматургии позволяет играть комичные роли вперемешку с трагическими. В мире английский театр занимает позицию одного из самых лучших. Многие люди мечтают побывать в английском театре.

Шекспир сыграл огромную роль для развития театра не только в Англии, но и в других странах. Его творчество до сих пор обыгрывается во многих театрах мира. Этот человек сделал большой вклад в культурное развитие Англии.

В1688-1689 годах в Англии был буржуазный переворот, который дал толчок для развития эпохи Просвещения. Во многих театрах постановки учили зрителя нравственности. Это привело к тому, что в Англии пуритане начали бороться за реформацию театра. Они хотели искоренить безнравственность и сделать английский театр местом, которое было бы полезно для зрителя. В то время театр играл немаловажную роль в политических вопросах. Именно через театр людям пытались навязать свою точку зрения и заставить их идти тем курсом, которое было выгодно правительству. Однако со временем такая стратегия стала просто бессмысленной и театр начал превращаться в культурное заведение для отдыха.

Вконце 18 века в английских театрах появился новый жанр пьес. Это были ужасы и кошмары. Людям нравилось ходить на такие спектакли. Создатель этого жанра Хорас Уолпол сделал шаг к развитию нового жанра - романтизма.

В19 веке в английский театр вернули страсть, значительность героев и романтизм.

Английский театр и теперь имеет славу во всем мире. Если Вы будете в Англии, обязательно посетите один из этих прекрасных театров.

SURF THE NET

Search for an original British play of the previous centuries. Choose a part of it and rewrite it to make it sound up-to- date and of current interest. Stage the play.

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PART 3 THEATRE TODAY

TEXT A

1.You are going to read the text on British theatre. Before reading comment on the following:

Laurence Olivier

John Gielgud

the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

The Royal National Theatre

The Royal Shakespeare Company

Barbican Centre

Thomas Stearns Eliot

The National Youth Theatre in London

2.Nine sentences (or parts of sentences) have been removed. Choose among the sentences A – J the one which fits each gap (1 - 9). There is one extra sentence. Check yourself.

A. The tickets are not hard to get but they are very expensive.

B. The theatre-goers warmly received the production of Thomas Stearns Eliot’s play “Murder in the Cathedral”.

C. Its centre is, of course, London, where successful plays can sometimes run without a break for many

years.

D. …well-known television actors, though they might make the most of their money in this latter medium, continues to see themselves as first and foremost theatre actors.

E. …a safe opportunity to look behind the mask of accepted social behaviour.

F. For example, every town in the country has at least one ‘amateur dramatics’ society, which regularly gives performances and charges no more than enough to cover its costs

G. Broadway, when looking for its next blockbuster musical, pays close attention to London productions. H. There many theatres and theatre companies for young people: the National Youth Theatre and the

Young Vic Company in London, the Scottish Youth Theatre in Edinburgh. I. David Garrick and some other actors` acting became naturalistic.

3.Answer the following questions:

Why are the British so proud of W. Shakespeare? Why do they call him “the Swan of Avon”?

What plays written by Shakespeare do you know? What Shakespeare’s play should be staged at the theatres for young people?

What kinds of plays does the Royal Shakespeare Company produce?

What prominent English actors of the past and present do you know? How many of them started their acting career at the theatre?

Are there any theatres for young people in England?

There is no special repertory for young people at the theatres, is there?

How can one improve the situation with theatres in small towns?

How can one make a theatrical production the longest-running?

Are there any longest-running theatrical productions in Russia?

What Russian person could be compared to Shakespeare in theatrical art?

BRITISH THEATRE TODAY

Interest in the arts in Britain used to be largely confined to small elite. Nowadays far more people read books, visit art galleries. Go to the theatre and attend concerts.

The theatre has always been very strong in Britain. 1.____. As they say: “They ran and ran!” In the second half of the XXth century, the two longest-running theatrical productions have been “The Mousetrap” (from a novel by Agatha Christie) and the comedy ‘No Sex, please, we’re British”. Both played continuously for more than fifteen years.

Britain is one of the world’s major theatre centres. 2.____. Many British actors and actresses have the world fame. They are Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Glenda Jackson, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud an others.

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But every large town in the country has its theatres. Even small towns often have ‘repertory’ theatres, where different plays are performed for short periods by the same group of professional actors (a repertory company). Besides, many people are enthusiastically involved in British theatre with a more or less amateur or part-time status. 3.___. Especially drama is popular with people of all ages.

Now Britain has about 300 professional theatres. Some of them are privately owned. 4.___ Regular seasons of opera and ballet are given at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London. The Royal National Theatre stages modern and classical plays. The Royal Shakespeare Company produces plays mainly by Shakespeare and his contemporaries when it performs in Stratford – on Avon, and modern plays in its two auditoria in the City’s Barbican

Centre.

There are over 200 theatres in London, a quarter of which is in Westminster’s West End. Many other cities and large towns have at least one theatre.

5.___. The National Youth Theatre, which stages classical plays mainly by Shakespeare and modern plays about youth, was on tour in Russia in 1989 for the first time. 6.___ Many famous English actors started their careers in the National Youth Theatre. Among them Timothy Dalton.

It seems that the conventional format of the theatrical play gives the undemonstrative British people 7.___. The country’s most successful and respected playwrights are usually those who explore the darker side of the personality and of personal relationships (albeit often through comedy).

British theatre has such a fine acting tradition that Hollywood is forever raiding its talent for people to star in films. British television does the same thing. Moreover, 8.___. In short, British theatre is much admired. As a consequence, it is something that British actors are proud of. Many of the most 9.___.

LISTENING: PRIVATE LIVES

PRE-LISTENING TASK

Task 1. Match a word with its meaning.

Determined	место сбора, место встречи
To retrace one`s steps to smth	королевская ложа на главном ярусе
Forthright	откровенный, прямолинейный
Venue	стеклянный и железный купол/ свод
To be very into smth	ползать под сценой
To make the most of smth	быть полностью поглощенным ч-л
Glass and iron dome	нагруженные/груженные фургоны
Grand Tier box	тканая проволочная сетка
Summer fetes	реклама; хвалебные комментарии, предваряющие
	выступление
Articulated trucks	шнуры осветительных приборов
Kit	громкоговоритель, рупор
To install smth	переходить, пробираться
To rig chain hoists	устанавливать оборудование
Lighting tresses	летние празднества / праздники
Speaker	транспарант, лозунг
To crawl about underneath the stage	чистить, сносить, уничтожать
A wire gauze	решительный
To wade through	использовать наилучшим образом
A ticker tape	сумка с инструментами, комплект деталей
Streamer	серпантин, конфетти
To sweep smth up	снаряжать/оснащать, подготавливать подъемники на
	цепях
Build-up	восстанавливать в памяти, проследить путь

Task 2. Make up a story proposing sentences one by one. Each sentence should contain at least one word/expression mentioned above.

Task 3. According to the list of words above predict what the text you are going to listen will be about.

WHILE-LISTENING TASK

Listen to the text and fill in the missing parts. Answer the questions whenever necessary.

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