Shakespeare and the Globe
The Globe Theatre also known as the Shakespeare Globe Theatre was the play house where Shakespeare performed many of his greatest plays. Built from oak, deal, and stolen playhouse frames, the 3 storey, 3000 capacity Globe Theatre, co-owned by William Shakespeare has become almost as famous as the playwright himself.
History: Shakespeare needs a new playhouse to compete.
The 1598 decision to build the famous playhouse came about as the answer to many of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men’s problems. With the end of a lease on the Blackfriars Theatre in 1597, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
This acting troupe needed a new playhouse and fast as their rivals, The Admiral’s Men already had the the Rose Playhouse to perform their plays.
Clearly the Lord Chamberlain’s Men would need a playhouse to compete, but there was one little problem; a lack of money.
Theft builds the Playhouse.
Construction of the famous playhouse, set near the Thames in a place called Bankside in Southwark, began in early 1599. Said to be built by Cuthbert Burbage.
Location
Though located near the river Thames, Shakespeare’s playhouse was not in fact in central London but rather an outlying district called Southwark. Yet the famous playhouse by attracting commoners and gentry alike, brought people of all classes. Nonetheless, elements of England’s strict class divisions remained; commoners were in the courtyard by comparison with England’s gentry and nobility which were seated in the galleries or the balconies.
The Playhouse's motto and crest.
True to it’s name, above the main entrance was inscribed the words "Totus mundus agit histrionem" (the whole world is a playhouse).
General Appearance.
The famous playhouse was a large circular structure, three stories high. A small straw hatched roof only partially covered the circular structure, giving it an appearance very much like a modern day football stadium where the center is uncovered.
In the center, pushed up against one interior side, extended the 5 feet high main stage. At the back of this stage facing the interior walls were two doors and a main entrance consisting of a central curtain. Behind this were changing rooms for the actors. To get back on stage.
On the third level was a small house like structure supported by columns from the stage where announcements were made and the playhouse's flag would often fly, advertising plays currently being performed.
Again like a stadium, three rows of seating forming circular bands wrapped around the interior.
Balconies to be seen in...
The balcony above the stage was not the only balcony in the playhouse. As mentioned, the central balcony was flanked by two balconies for the wealthy to be seen in just as celebrities.
Open to all for the modest fee of just one-penny, you could stand in the yard at the center of the playhouse. For a little more (roughly two pennies), you could pay to sit in one of the playhouse's three circular galleries.
Watching a play.
Unlike today’s spectacles, a Shakespearean playhouse-goer really had to use their imagination; there were no backdrops, no lighting to speak of, horrific acoustics, and few if any props. As such watching a play would involve watching the actors exaggerating their movements for patrons in the galleries and shouting their lines to be heard by all.
Much of the illusion of a play had to occur in the viewer’s own imagination, the only notable exceptions, being the colorful use of costumes, heralds, banners, the odd cannon, and the dramatic use of the balcony’s and arras. Because there was no artificial lighting, plays typically occurred in the early afternoon, lasting from 2 pm until roughly 4 or 5 pm.
Plays performed.
The first play we know of that was performed at Shakespeare's famous playhouse was Julius Caesar in 1599 when a Swiss tourist Thomas Platter recorded in his diary that on September the 21st " we witnessed an excellent performance of the tragedy of the first Emperor Julius Caesar " said to be performed by some 15 actors.
Other plays known to have been performed by Shakespeare and rest of his acting troupe were Hamlet (1600-1601), Twelfth Night Or What You Will (1601), Richard II (February 7th 1601) Troilus and Cressida (1601-1602), All’s Well That Ends Well (circa 1602), Timon of Athens (c1604), King Lear (1605), Macbeth (1606), Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1607) possibly The Tempest in 1610, The Two Noble Kinsmen in 1611, Shakespeare’s "lost" play Cardenio in 1612 and Henry VIII in 1613.
Burnt to the ground and rebuilt again.
Tragedy struck the playhouse when amidst a performance of Henry VIII on June the 29th, 1613, a cannon fired during the play ignited the playhouse's thatched roof burning the playhouse to the ground. Rebuilt just one year later, the famous playhouse again opened its doors for business but on the opposite side of the Thames river in 1614, with the original's dangerous straw thatched roof now wisely replaced with tiles.
End of an era.
In 1642 as Puritanical forces made their presence felt in England, playhouses no longer were a place of laughter but one of evil sin. Predictably then, all of England’s playhouses were promptly closed down to protect the good people of England. Just two years later in 1644, where Hamlet was once performed, the famous playhouse was taken down, its presence replaced by housing instead. One of the greatest eras in playhouse was at an end...
The plot to kill Queen Elizabeth.
Shakespeare and his famous playhouse, also distinguished themselves in controversy. In 1601, Sir Gilly Meyrick asked The Lord Chamberlain’s Men to perform Richard II for two pounds. This was an old play and it was only the money that convinced the actors to perform it.
However the reason Meyrick wanted the play performed was because of its anti-monarchic message.
The Essex rebellion failed, The Earl of Essex and most of his supporters being killed. Shakespeare and the rest of the Chamberlain’s Men were questioned for their part in this conspiracy, only having to play before the Queen as a consequence.
Shakespeare and the Masters of Revels
The Master of Revels was the man to impress and fear, for he auditioned acting troupes, selected the plays they would perform, and controlled the scenery and costumes to be used in each production.
During the reign of James I, the Master of Revels reached the apex of his power and had complete authority over both the production and the publication of plays.
When the Master of Revels organized an upcoming season of performances he would summon the acting troupes so that they could audition before him and his three subordinate officers. The Master would then choose which companies would perform and which plays they were allowed to produce. If the Master saw fit, he would delete lines or passages and even request that entire scenes be inserted into the original material.
Once the Master selected the plays to be produced before the royal court, he arranged for all the required costumes and scenery to be created by his own seamstresses and workmen. Much time and money was spent on the elaborate wardrobes, and only the finest fabrics were used.The Master's power extended beyond control of court entertainment to include censoring publicly performed plays, and issuing licenses to provincial acting troupes. The Revels Office was formally eliminated by 1737.
Shakespeare and Lord Chamberlain's men
Henry Carey, became Lord Chamberlain in 1585, and his company of players became known as the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. The company was reorganised in 1594, with both Richard Burbage and William Shakespeare among the players. When Henry Carey died in 1596, his son George Carey became their patron. The players were known as Lord Hunsdon’s Men until George Carey became Lord Chamberlain in 1597. They kept the name Lord Chamberlain’s Men until the accession of James I in 1603, when they became the King’s Men. Most of Shakespeare’s plays were created for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Between 1594 and 1603, they mostly played in London at the Theatre, and then at the Globe. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men also played at court.
Shakespeare and Admiral's men
Admiral’s Men, also called Lord Admiral’s Men, a theatrical company in Elizabethan .
Is generally considered the second most important acting troupe of English Renaissance theatre ,after, the Lord Chamberlain's or King's Men.In 1585, when Lord Howard became England’s lord high admiral, the company changed its designation to the Admiral’s Men.The chief actor of the Admiral’s Men was Edward Alleyn; their manager and effectively their employer until his death in 1616 was Philip Henslowe. The Admiral’s Men never played at the Globe .
Shakespeare and Earl of Leicester’s Men
