Heinrich von Kleist

Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was born at Frankfort on the Oder on the 18th of October, 1777. At the age of fifteen he served in the military. He was reluctant to do so, and eventually gave it up some years later, retiring as a lieutenant and continued to collect knowlede, politically, socially, and anyway. He studied law and philosophy at the Viadrina University and in 1800 received a subordinate post in the Ministry of Finance at Berlin. As he began to write he also travelled, from Berlin to Paris, and from Paris to Switzerland. It is here he wrote his first work "The Schoffenstein Family". In 1807, he was arrested and accused of being a spy by the French, where they held him captive for six months. Afterward he published a journal entitled "Phobus". He went on to write several works, both tragedy and comedy. On Novermber 21, 1811, however, he shot himself.
1803 "The Schroffenstein Family"
1808 "Phobus" Journal
1808 "The Käthchen of Heilbronn"
1808 "The Broken Jug
1809 "Die Hermannsschlacht"
1821 "The Prince of Homburg"

The Prince of Homburg

This is the lobby display of snapshots taken from the show. The idea of this is to give the audience a brief taste of fashion, lighting, scenic design, and other stylized theatrical choices specific to the play.

Lighting Elements in 19th Century America

During the 19th century America, it is important to note the use of gas for lighting theatre spaces. It began to emerge in places like "Chestnut Street Theatre" in Philadelphia around 1816 and in New York in the 1866 production of "Black Crook". In 1825, the first practical spotlight found use. Although popular in Europe in the 1840's the limelight did not make its way to America for nearly 2 decades later.
During the late 19th century however, more primitive methods of lighting began to set a foothold. These ideas rapidly took over and became the default lighting systems. These lighting methods are important because it meant less make up for the actors, and the ability to see more than was possible before.

Dressing the 19th Century woman

During this time, the materials used in making dresses, began to take a change. Wool, mostly limited to outer garments and mens apparel, was getting used to make dresses, alongside silk and cotton. It's first appearance was as an under petticoat, than eventually dresses. Alpaca, poplin, and mohair were the popular wools used during the time.
The shape of the dress began to change as well. The upper wires were removed from hoop skirts, thus making the dress a tighter fit, slimming the women. One piece dresses, with seams running the entire length also started to emerge. And for practical purposes, walking dresses were shortened to make walking easier.

Fencing influences on Italian theatre

During the 16th century, fencing had become wildly popular. Two notable fencing masters were Camillo Agrippa and Capo Ferro. These two names are quite popular in the realm of fencing even today. It is interesting to note the Capitano stock character is always dressed to kill. Meaning he is always ready to duel; cape adorned and sword at his side. It seems what we would call the pop culture of the time, be it fencing, had found a way to leak into the Italian form of media, theatre. Fencing was such a part of masculinity that it was being advertised by the "young adventurer" character in the plays. It is also interesting to see how this art also helped spark the sport of fencing in other countries and helped the italian fencing masters gain work in foreign countries.

Commedia dell'Arte: Stock characters

Pantalone: Old man, who was usually more dense(slower) than the other characters, very talkative, very much into food and women, as well as temperamental and gullible. Usually at the wrong end of a joke, and made a fool by someone close to him.
Doctor: Old man, who came from an educated background of some sort. Not always a doctor but sometimes philosopher, professor, astrologer, etc... Usually misquoted Latin during the show, he was thought of as conceited.
Capitano: Young man,adventurous, outgoing, who usually spoke in spanish and wore a cape and a sword. The idea was "dressed to kill" as dueling was very popular for this character. Usually more cowardly than brave, liked to talk himself up. It was not uncommon for this character to have some intimacy with a woman during the show.
Zanni: Jester like servants/slaves to the Doctor and Pantalone. Somewhat absent minded as well, they can be found making love to the servant women during the shows. They are knavish at times.
Punchinello: Hunchback with a long nose and three pointed hat. Although a handful at times this character was not overly talkative. His appearance, however, led to obvious assumptions of the character.

It is important to note that most of these stock characters were played by the same actor over and over again. So even though the actors did many shows, essentially it was the same character. This made their job a lot easier, as improvisation was a large portion of their shows.

Moliere: The Creator of French High Comedy

Jean-Babtiste Poquelin, or the playwright better known as Molière was born in Paris, France January 15, 1622. His father was one of eight of the king’s upholsterers. While growing up in the king’s court, Molière, also had the privilege of attending one of the finest schools at the time, the College de Clermont in Paris. At the age of twelve, his mother passed away, leaving him and his father alone. Although his father was remarried, the second wife passed away when Molière was only fifteen.
His father's shop was located near two important theatrical sites: the Pont-Neuf and the Hôtel de Bourgogne. This is significantly important as they played a major part in getting this playwright into theatre. It was at these two places that Molière, accompanied by his grandfather, developed his appreciation for theatre, and by the age of twenty one dedicated his life to it. After turning a tennis court into a theatre, and flopping for nearly two years, Molière decided to write plays for his troupe. On the evening of October 24, 1658, Molière and his troupe performed for the first time before Louis XIV. After performing one of his own plays, "The Love-sick Doctor", the company proved to be much improved and received much needed support from the king. It would be during these following years that Molière would establish himself as the creator of French High Comedy. His witty banter and satyr proved quite successful. However, it proved troublesome too. Although his plays were humorous, they were a little too true. As a result, many of the victims of satirical jokes in his plays did not like being made fun of. On February 17, 1673, Molière suffered a hemorrhage while playing the role Argan in "The Imaginary Invalid". Despite the advice of friends and family, he finished the performance, and unfortunately passed away later that night. Local priests refused to take his last confessions because he was an actor, and actors were of a lower social standing. Actors at this time were excommunicated from the church and also received no burial on sacred grounds. Four days later, the king overruled this, and Molière was laid to rest in the Cemetery Saint Joseph. It is safe to assume his relationship with the king was that of a friendly and well liked nature. A few of his well known plays are as follows: "The School for Husbands" (1661), "The School for Wives" (1662), "The Misanthrope" (1666), "The Doctor in Spite of Himself" (1666), "Tartuffe" (1664,1667,1669), "The Miser" (1668), and "The Imaginary Invalid" (1673).