Restoration Stage

Three unities

Ans. Three Unities: A play should have the unity of action, place and time. The unity of action means the action should in sync with the actual conditions of the staging of the play. The unity of place implies that the action should be restricted to a single site. The unity of time means that there should be limited time – two or three hours – to enact the play. Playwrights often flout these unities. Aristotle says unity in action is desirable. They unity should be organic and could not be seconded by the mechanical device of making one man can centre and cause of the plot. There should not be any subplot attached to any serious play. Mixture of tragedy and comedy were also not allowed. However, with the passage of time, dramatists have fused the comic and tragic elements in their works.

These three unities help dramatists well-organise the actions and setting on the stage. Certain plays however do no require these unities. It can be summed up that the one essential unity required for a play is the unity of impression. In The Theory of Drama, Alardyce Nicoll says the unity of impression is closely connected to the ancient unity of action, but it does not give importance on the creative process involved in the construction of the play, but on theeffect the drama will have on the audience.

History plays

Ans. Historical Plays: History play, representing events drawn wholly or partly from recorded history. The term usually refers to chronicle plays, loosely knitted historical events and dependent on stage settings. It was famous in sixteen eras. The prestigious historical play of Elizabethan period are Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Richard II, Edward I, and Henry V but it also covers some later works such as Arther Miller’s The Crucible (1593) and Robert Bolts’ A Man for All Seasons (1962). In a somewhat looser sense, it has been applied also to some plays that take as their subject the impact of historical change on the lives of fictional character.

Restoration Stage

Ans. Restoration Stage: During the 17th and 9th centuries, theatres were smaller than the Elizabethan theatre. They could accommodate about 500 people. Dramas were staged in closed rooms. Artificial lightings were used on the stage. People sit in the illuminated room. A decorative frame was used to close the stage. They did not use curtain and scene changed happened in front of the audience. A highly stylized image of characters, scenery, language and subject of matter were used. A major development during the 17th and 18th century was the emergence of Patent theatres and minor playhouses.

The middle classes started to enter the playhouses and playhouses set up their own tradition. According to Nicoll, four popular species of entertainment during the period were the operatic, the terpsichorean, the mimic and the spectacular. People liked show, music and dances. People also like extravagant and satirical plays. The ballad-opera invented by John Gay proved this point

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