Drama in the Renaissance Era

Ennymedia is the best place for drama lovers to indulge in their daily dose of theatrics. And while the root of these ‘theatrics’ may be in ancient Greece, Drama essentially became the life of literature in the Renaissance Era—the era of the king of drama, Shakespeare. Initially, only short plays and reveals were performed, and that too only in the houses of nobles or in the King’s court. Then writers and playwrights started introducing new form of drama and expanding their audience.

The year 1576 was a key date, since that is when the first permanent theatre building was built in London. Before 1576, plays were acted in public halls and large houses, and in other open spaces, by troops of actors that mostly travelled around the countryside between cities and towns. The building of a theatre signified the evolution of drama into something crucial. Also, the growing love among people for theatre and education, the growing wealth of people, and their fondness for spectacle produced a dramatic literature of remarkable variety, quality, and extent.

Genres of the period included the history play, which depicted English or European history. Tragedy was also a very popular genre. Shakespeare and Marlowe’s tragedies became popular, along with revenge dramas. The first prominent English tragedy in the Senecan mold was Gorboduc, written by two lawyers, Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton, at the Inns of Court (schools of law).

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