Theatre during the renaissance vs Theatre today

In the Renaissance the audience was made by all sorts of people, rich and poor who had to stand on the ground. Theatres were designed as large wooden structures, circular or octagonal in shape, with three tiers of galleries surrounding a yard open to the sky. These were the most expensive seats and they were usually occupied by members of aristocracy. There was no scenery and the audience had to image the scene by listening to the language of the actors. There was no curtain and no intervals, so performances were very quick. In addition, the platform stage was pushed out into the audience who stood around in three sides. This created an atmosphere of close intimacy between actors and audiences. 


In modern times instead, the audience of theatre has become more polished and also the price of the tickets has risen up. In addition, now people sit on comfortable seats instead of standing up and the most expensive seats are the one which are nearer to the stage.

Talking about the structure, now theatres are not opened anymore and the use of curtain supported the creation of intervals and slowly changes of scene which actually made the performances longer.

Moreover, modern people can avail of several types of entertainment, as a consequence the theatre audience has been radically decreased.