The theatricality of Baroque urban environments

Abstract

Theatre was one of the greatest showpieces of the Baroque age. Its diverse manifestations comprise several concerns of the period. While underlining the Baroque vision of authority it provided a form of escape from the rigid controls exacted during the period. Theatre expressed the Baroque desire for display and man's attempt to come to terms with a changing world, which the new discoveries in science and the effects of the Protestant reformation had rendered insecure and open to doubts. Indeed, during this period of human history, theatre was not confined to dramatic representations on stage. It permeated every area of life; life itself was refined into a great act, such that living became an art. Theatre became the expression par excellence of the age - not only on stage but in eve1y area of daily life.