The Globe Theatre of London

 

Inside the Old Globe Theatre

 

In the late 1500's, when William Shakespeare began to write his plays, English people tended to be optimistic. In 1588 the English navy won a great victory over the Spanish Armada, a fleet that attempted to invade England. The victory made England seem more secure and aroused strong feelings of patriotism.

 

After Shakespeare arrived in London from Stratford-upon-Avon, he joined one of the city’s repertory theatre groups. These companies consisted of a permanent cast of actors who presented a variety of plays week after week. They were commercial organizations that depended on admission prices for their income. They staged most of the plays that Londoners attended. Shakespeare was a sharer of a company called ‘Lord Chamberlain’s Men’ in 1594. ‘Lord Chamberlain’s Men’ was one of the most popular acting companies in London at the time. Shakespeare was a leading member of the group for the rest of his career as an actor.

 

Acting companies were operated under the sponsorship either of a member of the royal family or a nobleman. They consisted of only men and boys since women were not allowed to perform on an Elizabethan theatre. A typical acting company had 8 to 12 sharers, a number of salaried workers, and apprentices. The sharer’s were the company’s leading actors. They were also in charge of the company’s business activities. They bought costumes, rented theatres, paid fees, and split the profits. The salaried workers, called ‘hirelings’, took minor roles in the plays, performed the music, served as promoters, and did various other jobs. The apprentices were boys who played the roles of women and children.

 

From 1594 to 1608 Shakespeare was fully involved in the London theatre world. In addition to his duties as a sharer and actor in the ‘Lord Chamberlain’s Men’ he wrote an average of two plays a year for his company to produce. By the late 1590's Shakespeare had not only become an established writer, but he also had become prosperous. In 1597 he purchased the New Place, one of the two largest houses in Stratford-upon-Avon. Records of business dealings and minor lawsuits reveal that Shakespeare preferred to invest most of his earnings in Stratford rather than in London.

 

Shakespeare’s London consisted of nearly 200,000 people in 1600. It was a rather crowded and unsanitary city. These conditions led to frequent epidemics of plague, which much of the population fell victim to. The optimism of the late 1500's faded rapidly. By the time Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603 the English were struggling with many social and economic problems. To many English people the world appeared to be deteriorating and becoming, in Hamlet’s words, “an unweeded garden/That grows to seed.” Shakespeare’s plays reflected the shift in attitude from optimism to pessimism in Elizabethan society.

 

 

Swan Theatre/Rose Theatre

 

In 1599 William Shakespeare and six associates became owners of the Globe Theatre, a new outdoor theatre in the London suburb of Southwark. It was located on the south bank of the Thames River, within close range of the Swan, the Rose, and the Hope theatres. The original Elizabethan Globe Theatre was built by two brothers, Richard and Cuthbert Burbage, who also owned the Theatre at Shoreditch in North London. The timber that was used to build the Globe was the same wood used to build the Theatre. It was simply taken apart piece by piece, and reassembled to make the Globe Theatre.

 

Globe Theatre Floor Plan

 

The Globe Theatre was the principal playhouse of the ‘Lord Chamberlain’s Men’. Most of Shakespeare’s post-1598 plays were originally staged at the Globe.

 

William Shakespeare wrote his plays to suit the abilities of particular actors and the tastes of specific audiences. The physical structure of the theatres in which his works were presented also influenced his playwriting. He used many dramatic devices that were popular in Elizabethan theatre. Shakespeare wrote most of his plays for audiences with broad social backgrounds. A cross section of Londoners came to the Globe Theatre. They ranged from apprentices to members of the nobility. However, most of the Globe’s audience consisted of middle-class citizens, such as merchants and craftsmen.

 

The Globe Theatre was a three-story, 100-foot wide, open-air amphitheater that could house around 3,000 spectators. It was among the first successful public theatres on London. At the base of the stage was an area called the ‘yard’ where people would stand to watch the performance. Around the yard were three levels of seating which were more expensive than standing. The first two levels were called the ‘Twopenny Rooms’ and the top level was called the ‘Penny Gallery’. The courtyard, also known as the ‘pit’, of the Globe Theatre was about 55 feet in diameter.

 

Stage at the Old Globe Theatre

 

A rectangular stage platform was in the middle of the open-air yard. The stage itself was projected into the pit which allowed the audience to view the plays from the front and sides. This also allowed for actors to have close contact with most audiences. This stage was roughly 43 feet wide and 28 feet deep. On this stage there was a trap door for use by the performers to enter from beneath the stage. This area beneath the stage was known as the ‘cellarage’. There was a second trapdoor in the back of the stage that was used for the same purpose.

 

On two sides of the stage were large columns called ‘stage-posts’. They supported a half-roof over a portion of the stage. This ceiling was called the ‘heavens’ and was painted with images of the sky. The half-roof over the upper balcony and the back of the main stage served as a hut that contained machinery to produce sound effects and various special effects. The back wall of the stage consisted of three doors on the first floor and a balcony on the second. The doors led to the backstage area, known as the ‘tiring house’, where actors dressed and awaited their entrances. The musicians usually occupied the balcony. It was also used for scenes that required and upper space. The balcony was also sometimes used as the ‘Lord’s Room’, where higher-paying audience members could pay to get the best view in the theatre. The Globe Theatre only gave performances only during daylight hours because they had no artificial lights.

 

The cheapest part of the theatre was the yard on all three sides of the stage. It was a standing area for which a ticket could be purchased for one penny. The people found in this area were usually the poorest theatre-goers, such as the city’s common laborers. A 1,000 of them usually fit into the Globe’s yard area. The three galleries held the other 2,000 attendees. The cost of a ticket to one of the three galleries was two pennies. Seating was available, and a cushion could have been purchased for an extra penny. Although the three galleries cost the same amount of money to sit in, the middle gallery was considered to be the highest status. The lower gallery was too close for comfort to the yard, while the upper gallery served as a meeting place for unsavory business deals, and a working ground for local prostitutes. The most expensive seats in the theatre were located above the rear of the stage. These seats provided separation from the masses in the rest of the theatre, and a place for the rich to show off. Tickets for the ‘Lords Rooms’ were sold for six pennies each.

 

Unlike most modern dramas Elizabethan plays did not depend on scenery to indicate the setting of the play. The setting was usually unknown to the audience until the characters identified it with a few lines of dialogue. In addition, the main stage of the Globe Theatre had no curtain. One scene hd to follow the other quickly because there was no curtain to close and open and no scenery to change. The lack of scenery also allowed the play to flow freely from place to place. Although the stage lacked scenery various props were used.

 

Acting companies spent large amounts of money on colorful costumes. Sound effects played a large role in Elizabethan drama. Trumpet blasts and drum rolls were common. Sometimes unusual sounds were created to highlight the importance of select dialogue.

 

Example of the Elizabethan England attire

 

The importance of sound effects and special effects ultimately led to the destruction of the first Globe Theatre. It burned to the ground in 1613 when it was ignited by a flaming material expelled from a cannon during a performance of Henry VIII. The flaming material ignited the thatched roof of the gallery. It was rebuilt immediately on its original foundations, except this time with a tiled roof, and reopened in July 1614.

 

Like all other theatres in London, the Globe Theatre was closed down by the Puritans in 1642, and was destroyed in 1644 to make room for tenements. The original foundations that supported both of the Globe Theatres were buried. The exact location of the Globe Theatre remained unknown until its foundations were unearthed in 1989 beneath Anchor Terrace on Southwark Bridge Road.

 

The New Globe Theatre

 

At the request of Sam Wanamaker a new Globe Theatre was built according to Elizabethan plan. It opened in 1997 under the name ‘Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre’ and now stages plays every summer from May until October. The new theatre is 200 yards from the original site, and was the first thatched roof building permitted in London since the Great Fire of London of 1666. As in the original, both the stage and the audience are outdoors. Plays are put on during the summer, and during the winter the theatre is used for educational purposes. The original Globe was modified during its reconstruction by the addition of sprinklers on the roof to protect against fires, and the theatre is partly joined onto a modern lobby and visitors’ center. In addition, the new Globe houses 1,500 people, unlike the 3,000 of Elizabethan time.

 

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