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LAW RELATING TO THEATRES

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 737 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LAW See also:RELATING TO THEATRES . It was not until comparatively See also:late in See also:Roman See also:history that acting became a distinct calling. The troops of public actors (ministeria publica) were generally slaves, and their earnings enriched their masters more than themselves. The regulation of the See also:theatre by legislation (except as to structure) belongs chiefly to the See also:time of the See also:lower See also:empire, in which it depended almost wholly upon constitutions of See also:Theodosius and Valentinian, incorporated in the Theodosian See also:Code (Tit. xv. 5, 6, 7), and a See also:century later to a large extent adopted by Justinian. In the whole of this law there is an evident See also:attempt at a See also:compromise between the doctrines of See also:Christianity and the old Roman love of public See also:spectacles of all kinds. It deals less with theatrical representations proper than with gladiatorial contests and See also:chariot races.' The Theodosian Code provided that the sacraments were not to be administered to actors See also:save where See also:death was imminent, and only on See also:condition that the calling should be renounced in See also:case of recovery. Daughters of actors were not to be forced to go on the See also:stage, provided that they lived an honest See also:life. An actress was to be allowed to quit the stage- in See also:order to become a See also:nun. There were also numerous sumptuary regulations as to the See also:dress of actors. None of the law which has been mentioned so far was adopted by Justinian, but what follows was incorporated in See also:Cod. xi. 40 (De Spectaculis et Scenicis), which consists entirely of extracts from the Theodosian Code of a very See also:miscellaneous nature.

See also:

Provision was made for the See also:exhibition of public See also:games and theatrical spectacles ' The word ludi seems sometimes to include, sometimes to exclude, dramatic performances. Its meaning in a particular instance depends on the context.by magistrates, practically confining them to exhibiting in their own cities. Statues of actors were not to be placed in the public streets, but only in the See also:proscenium of a theatre. A See also:governor of a See also:province was entitled to take the See also:money raised for public games for the purpose of repairing the See also:city walls, provided that he gave See also:security for afterwards celebrating the games as usual. Municipalities were encouraged to build theatres (Dig. 1, 10, 3). By Novel cxvii., it was ground for See also:divorce if a wife went to the theatre without her See also:husband's knowledge. In Cod. iii. 12, 11 (De Feriis) is a constitution of See also:Leo and See also:Anthemius forbidding dramatic representations on See also:Sunday. The See also:Digest (iii. 2) classed all who acted for hire (omnes propter pecuniam in scenam prodeuntes) as infamous persons, and as such debarred them from filling public offices. A See also:mere See also:contract to perform not fulfilled did not, however, carry See also:infamy with it.

By Novel li. actresses could retire from the stage without incurring a See also:

penalty even if they had given sureties or taken an See also:oath. There was probably a censorship at certain periods,' as well as provisions for safety of the See also:building and the See also:audience (See also:Tacitus, See also:Ann., iv. 63; Leonine Constitutions, cxiii.). The seats were allocated by the See also:state, and the care of the building committed to certain magistrates (Novel cxlix. 2). See also:England.—In England, as in other countries of western See also:Europe, theatrical legislation was of comparatively See also:recent introduction. Such legislation was unnecessary as See also:long as the theatre was under the See also:control of the See also:Church and actors under its See also:protection, the Church having turned to its own uses what it was powerless to prevent. The earliest regulations were therefore, as might be expected, made by the Church rather than by the state. The ecclesiastical ordinances were directed chiefly against the desecration of churches, though they sometimes extended to forbidding attendance of the faithful as spectators at plays even of a harmless See also:kind .3 Sacraments and See also:Christian See also:burial were denied by the See also:canon law to actors, whose gains, said St See also:Thomas, were acquired ex turpi causa,4 and who, if they exceeded what was proper, might be in mortal See also:sin. It was a doubtful point as to whether spectators might not be in similar case. The same law forbade plays to be. acted by the See also:clergy, even under the plea of See also:custom, as in See also:Christmas See also:week, and followed the code of Justinian in enjoining the clergy not to See also:consort with actors or be See also:present at plays (see Decrelals, iii. 1, 12 and 15, De Vita et Honestate Clericorum).

As late as 1603, canon lxxxviii. of the canons of the Church of England enacted that churchwardens were not to suffer plays in churches, chapels or churchyards. The latest occurrence of such a See also:

play seems to have been at See also:Oxford in 1592. The See also:Reformation marks the See also:period of transition from the ecclesiastical to the non-ecclesiastical authority over the See also:drama. Precautions began to be taken by the See also:crown and the legislature against the acting of unauthorized plays, by unauthorized persons, and in unauthorized places, and the acting of plays objectionable to the See also:government on See also:political or other grounds. The protection of the Church being withdrawn, persons not enrolled in a fixed See also:company or in See also:possession of a See also:licence from the crown or justices were liable to severe penalties as vagrants. The history of the legislation on this subject is very curious. An See also:act of the See also:year 1572 enacted that " all fencers, bearwards, See also:common players of interludes, and minstrels (not belonging to any See also:baron of this See also:realm, or to any other See also:honourable See also:person of greater degree)," wandering abroad without the licence of two justices at the least, were subject " to be grievously whipped and burned through the gristle of the right See also:ear with a hot See also:iron of the See also:compass of an See also:inch about." This See also:statute was superseded by 39 Eliz. c. 4, under which the See also:punishment of the strolling player is less severe, and there is no mention of justices. The See also:jurisdiction of justices over the theatre disappears from legislation 2 If one may See also:judge from See also:Horace's See also:line (Sat., i. 10, 38) : Quae neque in aede sonent certantia judice See also:Tar pa. 3 A large number of such ordinances will be found cited in See also:Prynne, Histriomastix; See also:Bossuet, Maximes et reflexions sur la comedie; See also:Mariana, De Spectaculis. They followed the almost unanimous condemnation by the Christian fathers.

See, for example, See also:

Chrysostom, Contra Ludos et Theatra; See also:Tertullian, De Spectaculis; See also:Augustine, De Civ. Dei, i. 31, Confessions, iii. 2; See also:Dill, Roman Society, pp. 47, 117. 4 For this See also:reason it appears to have been the custom in See also:France for actors to be married under the name of musicians. See His:. parlementaire de la Revolution francaise, vi. 381. The difficulties attending the funeral of See also:Moliere are well known. from that time until 1788. In 39 Eliz. c. 4 there is a remark-able exception in favour of persons licensed by Dutton of Dutton in See also:Cheshire, in accordance with his claim to See also:liberty and jurisdiction in Cheshire and See also:Chester, established in favour of his ancestor by proceedings in quo warranto in 1499.1 The stricter wording of this act as to the licence seems to show that the licence had been abused, perhaps that in some cases privileges had been assumed without authority.

In 14 Eliz. c. 5 the privileges of a player attached by service of a See also:

noble or licence from justices, in the later act only by service of a noble, and this was to be attested under his See also:hand and arms. The spirit of the acts of See also:Elizabeth frequently appears in later legislation, and the unauthorized player was a vagabond as late as the See also:Vagrancy Act of 1744, which was law till 1824. He is not named in the Vagrancy Act of 1824. The Theatre Act of 1737 narrowed the See also:definition of a player of interludes, for the purposes of punishment as a vagabond, to mean a person acting interludes,2 &c., in a See also:place where he had no legal See also:settlement. Before the Restoration there were privileged places as well as privileged persons, e.g. the See also:court, the See also:universities, and the inns of court. With the Restoration See also:privilege became practically confined to the theatres in the possession of those companies (or their representatives) established by the letters patent of See also:Charles II. in 1662. In spite of the See also:patents other and unprivileged theatres gradually arose.3 In 1735 See also:Sir See also:John See also:Barnard introduced a See also:bill " to restrain the number of playhouses for playing of interludes, and for the better regulation of common players." On \Valpole's wishing to add a clause giving See also:parliamentary See also:sanction to the jurisdiction of the See also:lord See also:chamberlain, the mover withdrew the bill. In 1737 See also:Walpole introduced a bill of his own for the same purpose, there being then six theatres in See also:London. The immediate cause of the bill is said to have been the See also:production of a political extravaganza of See also:Fielding's, Tice See also:Golden Rump. The bill passed, and the act of to Geo. II. c.

28 regulated the theatre for more than a century. Its effect was to make it impossible to establish any theatre except in the city of See also:

Westminster and in places where the See also:king should in person reside, and during such See also:residence only. The act did not confine the See also:prerogative within the city of Westminster, but as a See also:matter of policy it was not exercised in favour of the non-privileged theatres, except those where the " legitimate drama " was not performed. The legitimate drama was thus confined to Covent See also:Garden, See also:Drury See also:Lane and the Haymarket from 1737 to 1843. In the provinces patent theatres were established at See also:Bath by 8 Geo. III. c. 1o, at See also:Liverpool by 11 Geo. III. c. 16, and at See also:Bristol by 18 Geo. III. c. 8, the act of 1737 being in each case repealed See also:pro See also:lotto. The acting of plays at the universities was forbidden by to Geo.

II. c. 19. It is not a little remarkable that the universities, once possessing unusual dramatic privileges, should not only have lost those privileges, but have in addition become subject to See also:

special disabilities. The restrictions upon the drama were found very inconvenient in the large towns, especially in those which did not possess patent theatres. In one direction the difficulty was met by the lord chamberlain granting See also:annual licences for performances of operas, pantomimes and other spectacles not regarded as legitimate drama. In another direction See also:relief was given by the act of 1788 (28 Geo. III. c. 30), under which licences for occasional performances might be granted in See also:general or See also:quarter sessions for a period of not more than sixty days. The rights of patent theatres were preserved by the See also:prohibition to See also:grant such a licence to any theatre within eight See also:miles of a patent theatre. During this period (1737—1843) there were several decisions of the courts which confirmed the 1 The " advowry," as it was called, over the Cheshire minstrels lasted until 1756, when the latest See also:minstrel court was held at Chester. 2 Interludes were acted in the open See also:air at Berriew in See also:Montgomeryshire as lately as 1819, when the players were indicted before the See also:Great Sessions of See also:Wales. They had been prohibited in the See also:Declaration of See also:Sports (1633) and in the Propositions of See also:Uxbridge (1644).

3 See W. See also:

Nicholson, The Struggle for a See also:free Stage in London (1907).

End of Article: LAW RELATING TO THEATRES

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