Audiences of the Renaissance and audiences of today: discuss.

Theatre is a form of art which exists since classical age and in England it reached its peak during the Renaissance. So, it obviously was very popular at that time and this is why it may be interesting to point our differences between theatre audience then and now, in order to understand why nowadays theatre isn't popular among people.

First of all, during the Renaissance technology wasn't developed as much as today and this made theatre very popular, because it was one of the few ways for people to entertain themselves and to have some fun.

What's more, theatres were public and this allowed people from all social classes to attend the theatre and see plays; anyway, in time theatre became private: actors did not perform anymore in yards, but they started to perform in private and specific buildings. After this measure, tickets were introduced and people had to pay one penny. Tickets of course reduced the audience, but anyway it didn't make theatre less famous: some plays managed to reach 30,000 people in the audience.

Another point is that theatre was not just an entertainment, but also its purpose was to convey them a specific message and it was an chance for the audience to learn something new; teatre was also one of the few occasions for people to have a direct contact with culture, because a large part of population did not know how to read and also people from lower classes attended the theatre because it mainly involves sight and hearing.

On the other hand, nowadays theatre is not very popular: only a few people attend the theatre to see plays performed by actors. This may be because of the advent of technology. Today people have at their fingertips every kind of entertainment: everyone has a TV at home, people uses mp3 players, mobile phones and such things that can be easily brought anywhere. In addition, the decline of theatre is mainly due to the cinema, which may be similar to theatre, but more elaborate than it; for the audience it's easier to watch a film than a live performance, because it gives less work to their imagination and, as a consequence, it makes their brains work less, which makes the cinema a way to relax. This is the mainn reason why theatre is less popular and less appreciated nowadays.

It is also important to point out that today people who attend the teatre are only interested in entertainment and so nowadays it is no longer a way for people to learn something.

Furthermore, the lower participation of people may be due to the cost of the theatre: people has to pay tickets and today tickets cost more than during the Renaissance.

To sum up, in my opinion today's audience is less interested in theatre because there are a lot of other things that people can do: this is due to different aspects, but technology is the main one.