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''Oberon, the Faery Prince'' was a masque written by Ben Jonson, with costumes, sets and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones, and music by Alfonso Ferrabosco and Robert Johnson. ''Oberon'' saw the introduction to English Renaissance theatre of scenic techniques that became standard for dramatic productions through the coming centuries. The text of the masque was first published in the initial folio collection of Jonson's works that appeared in 1616. ==The show== ''Oberon'' was performed on 1 January 1611 at Whitehall Palace, in the Banqueting Hall. Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, the son and then-heir of James I, took the title role. (Prince Henry had wanted to stage the masque on horseback, but "his father vetoed the Idea.")〔Michael Leapman, ''Inigo: The Troubled Life of Inigo Jones, Architect of the English Renaissance'' London, Headline Book Publishing, 2003; pp. 115-16.〕 The masque was the sixth in the series of extravagant shows that Jonson and Jones produced for the Stuart Court in the Christmas holiday season, a series that had begun with ''The Masque of Blackness'' in 1605 and had continued through the previous year's ''Prince Henry's Barriers (The Lady of the Lake)''. In ''Oberon,'' Jones delivered another installment of the spectacle that the English Court had come to expect. The masque began with a front curtain displaying a map of the British Isles, which was drawn to reveal a large rock or crag, lit by a moon that passed through the sky above. Perched on the crag, surrounded by satyrs and nymphs, an unusually sober and sagelike Silenus prophesied the arrival of the fairy prince, Oberon, who would bestow order and beneficent rule. The nymphs and satyrs danced joyfully at the news. The crag split open to display a palatial hall, furnished with a throne lit with multi-colored lights. The "Knights Masquers" were revealed, and the Prince of Wales entered, riding in a chariot drawn by two "white bears." (Two polar bears captured in the Arctic in 1609 were kept by Philip Henslowe and Edward Alleyn as part of their bear-baiting operation at the Beargarden, and may have been tame enough in 1611 to use in the staging of ''Oberon.'')〔Teresa Grant, "White Bears in ''Mucedorus,'' ''The Winter's Tale,'' and ''Oberon, the Faery Prince''," ''Notes and Queries'' 48 (Sept. 2001), pp. 311-13.〕 The men wore black masks and costumes of silver and gold. The praises of Henry and James were sung by a boys' choir accompanied by ten lutenists, and ten pages in green and silver danced, followed by the dance of the fourteen principal masquers; then Oberon/Henry led his mother Anne of Denmark in the general dancing that concluded the performance. The masque was coupled with a performance at "barriers," a stylized physical combat (like a joust without horses); but no specific information on that part of the festivity has survived. Apart from that lack, however, the extant documentation on this masque is richer than for many others of the era—which has allowed scholars to study specific aspects of its creation, notably its music.〔Peter Walls, ''Music in the English Courtly Masque, 1604–1640,'' Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1996.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Oberon, the Faery Prince」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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