Governmental Influence on Theatre

Marriage of Figaro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPkiLseVfBE• 2:43-4:10 and 5:42-7:40

• The Marriage of Figaro by Beaumarchais

• Banned by Louis XVI, but loved by Marie Antoinette , shown to King in 1784

• (French Revolution 1789)• Play also banned in

Vienna

18th century controls on theatre

• England – Patent theatres and the Licensing Act of 1737

• France – Subsidized three state theatres and placed restrictions on all other theatres

• Germany – states provided subsidies to theatres.

England

• Charles II issued two patents (licenses) to operate theatres to Killigrew and Davenant. – The patents were gradually sold off into shares

• By 1737, Drury Lane and Covent Garden were the two patent theatres

• Act of 1737 issued due to insult to Robert Walpole

Prime Minister Question Time

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngMs_4I1__o

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpZhugomNJE

Licensing Act of 1737

• Applied to “tragedy, comedy, opera, play, farce, or other entertainment of the stage, for gain, hire or reward”

• Limited plays to City of Westminster (London)• Lord Chamberlain’s approval required for all

plays• L.C. control until 1968

Licensing Act 1843

• Lord Chamberlain has to have a good reason to ban

• Could ban if "it is fitting for the preservation of good manners, decorum or of the public peace so to do”

• Allowed local governments to license theatres, the patent theatre system no longer in effect.

Effects – New forms

• Burletta– 3 Act play with 5 or more songs per acts

• Melodrama– Music + Drama

• Later - Music Hall• Burlesque

France

• Three subsidized theatres

• Commedie Francaise• Opera• Commedie Italienne

Boulevard Theatre

• Located on Boulevard du Temple

• Catered to popular tastes

• Could produced shows more popular that the shows in subsidized theatres

Boulevard Forms

• Comic opera• Pantomime• Melodrama• Variety• Later vaudeville

Germany

State subsidized theatres

• Rulers established theatres• Some gave significant financial support

beyond box office receipts• Stability• Government controlled theatre through the

reward of financial support.

German Melodrama

• Not need to avoid regulation• Develop out of theatrical interest in

manipulating emotions in theatre through music

Governmental Influence

• Censorship ex. Saved• Licensing – ex. Patent theatres• Regulation -ex. Licensing Act 1737• Political pressure ex. Red Scare in USA/ USSR

and theatre • Funding – NEA

Censorship in America

• 1655 a play know as The Bear and the Cub was performed in Virginia

• The actors were arrested on the charge of public wickedness

• They were latter released

Censorship in America

• 1750 the General Court of Massachusetts prohibited stage plays and theatrical entertainments of any kind

• 1759, the House of Representatives in the Colony of Pennsylvania passed a law forbidding plays and acting.

• 1761 Rhode Island passed a law preventing theatre from being performed

• Northeast generally did not tolerate theatre due to heavy Puritan influences

NEA Four

• Karen Finley, Tim Miller, John Fleck, and Holly Hughes

NEA vs. Finley

– 1990 law requiring the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to consider “general standards of decency and respect” in the awarding of federal arts grants on behalf of performance artist

– “NEA Four" received funding then lost it on the basis of decency,

NEA Four

– they challenged the NEA’s decision based on freedom of speech.

– 1998 Supreme Court ruled in an 8-1 opinion that the 1990 “standards of decency” statute was constitutional. As a result, NEA can deny funding based on the grounds of decency.