Theatrical constraints are various rules, either of taste or of law, that govern the production, staging, and content of stage plays in the

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. Whether imposed externally, by virtue of

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

franchises or

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

laws, or whether imposed voluntarily by actors,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

s, or producers, these restraints have taxed the creative minds of the theatre to tackle the challenges of working with and around them. The

Classical unities The classical unities, Aristotelian unities, or three unities represent a prescriptive theory of dramatic tragedy that was introduced in Italy in the 16th century and was influential for three centuries. The three unities are: #''unity of action' ...

, requiring "unity" of "time, place, and subject", is the most well-known of all theatrical constraints. It was first employed in Italy in 1514 and later became embraced in France. Another example is the Japanese prohibition of female acting in 1625, then the prohibition of young male actors in 1657, that create "

Onnagata (also ) are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. History The modern all-male kabuki was originally known as ("male kabuki") to distinguish it from earlier forms. In the early 17th century, shortly after the emergence of the g ...

" which is the ground of Japanese theatrical tradition. In the Elizabethan theatre of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, a similar ban forbade all actresses from appearing on stage, at all; the parts of women were generally played by boys. The plot of ''

Shakespeare in Love ''Shakespeare in Love'' is a 1998 romantic period comedy-drama film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard, and produced by Harvey Weinstein. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin ...

'' turns on this fact. In

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

, the

Dogme 95 Dogme 95 is a 1995 avant-garde filmmaking movement founded by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vows of Chastity" ( da, kyskhedsløfter). These were rules to create films ...

films form a body of work produced under voluntary constraints that severely limit both the choice of subjects and the choice of techniques used to bring them to the screen. Another culturally significant constraint occurred in France. In the late seventeenth century (1697 to be exact), Italian companies were prohibited from appearing in France, so native actors took over the Italian plays and made the roles their own with great success. In the markets and fairgrounds, itinerant actors created a new theatrical form by holding up cue-cards (like sub-titles or

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music i ...

) containing the words of the plays or songs, which the audience then acted or sang for them. This became even more successful, with crowds coming from all around to see how the actors had overcome such rigid censorship. Some of the restrictions, or traditions born of them, may have still been in place in the nineteenth century, at least if Marcel Carné's '' Les Enfants du Paradis'' is a reliable guide.

External links

"Censorship as Liberation"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theatrical Constraints Theatre LGBT-related controversies in theatre Theatre controversies Censorship in the arts

See also

External links