| directory |
| home | contact |
|
|||||||||||||||
| search | |||||||||||||||
Shakespeare's Globe TheatreThe Globe Theatre was constructed in 1599, out of timber taken from the Theatre. It stood next to the Rose, on the south side of the Thames, and was the most elaborate and attractive theatre yet built. The Globe was designed and constructed for the Chamberlain's Men by Cuthbert Burbage, son of the Theatre's creator, James Burbage. The lease for the land on which the Globe stood was co-owned by Burbage and his brother Robert, and by a group of five actors -- Will Kempe, Augustine Phillips, John Heminge, Thomas Pope, and William Shakespeare. Much of Shakespeare's wealth came from his holdings in the Globe.The Globe was the primary home of Shakespeare's acting company beginning in late 1599, and it is a possibility that As You Like It was written especially for the occasion. On June 29, 1613, during a performance of Henry VIII, a misfired canon ball set the Globe's thatched roof on fire and the whole theatre was consumed. Swift reconstruction did take place and the Globe reopened to the public within a year, with the addition of a tiled roof. The new Globe theatre lasted until 1644, at which time it was demolished, and housing was quickly built where it once stood. Recent attempts have been made to re-create the Globe, and replicas have been built in Tokyo and in London.
The Outside of the Globe The second level of the tiring-house contained a central balcony stage in the middle, undoubtedly used multiple times in the production of Romeo and Juliet, (II,ii) -- the most famous balcony scene in the canon; a small window-stage on each side of the balcony, directly above the side doors on the first floor, used when up to four characters had to be seen from a window; and a curtained inner room behind the balcony stage, that served the same purpose as the inner room on the first floor of the tiring-house. The third level consisted of a central music gallery and two large lofts on either side of it, used as storage and dressing rooms. In rare instances the orchestra was seen by the audience, when select members would come down to the main stage to accompany a dancer or a chorus, but in most cases the musicians played in the third-floor curtained gallery, hidden from site. The lofts holding the props and instruments were always closed off from the public. In the Elizabethan theatre extraordinary amounts of money were spent on costumes and the Globe's storage area would have been overflowing with beautiful clothing, not unlike the kind listed in Henslowe's Diary, as he took inventory at the Rose. Unfortunately, the arcane spelling is difficult to read, but it is nonetheless interesting to peruse a portion of the list: Item, j orenge taney satten dublet, layd thycke with gowld lace. Item, j blew tafetie sewt. Item, j payr of carnatyon satten Venesyons, layd with gold lace. Item, j longe-shanckes sewte. Item, ij Orlates sewtes, hates and gorgettes, and vij anteckes hedes. Item, vj grene cottes for Roben Hoode, and iiij knaves sewtes. Item, ij black saye gownes, and ij cotton gownes, and j rede saye gowne. Item, Cathemer sewte, j payer of cloth whitte stockens, iiij Turckes hedes. Item, j mawe gowne of calleco for the quene, j carnowll hatte. Item, j red sewt of cloth for pyge, layed with whitt lace. The Stage Cover Over the three-story tiring-house was a superstructure composed of huts, resting on a protecting roof (also referred to as a stage-cover), held up by giant posts rising from the main platform. It would appear from drawings of the Bankside that every playhouse contemporaneous with the Globe had a superstructure of one or multiple huts, but the Globe's huts, or "heavens", seem the most elaborate. In the floor of the superstructure were several trap-openings allowing props to hang down over the stage or actors to descend to the floor, suspended by wires concealed under their costumes. The cannon that was so often fired during battle and coronation scenes was located in the huts, and so too was the trumpeter who heralded the beginning of a performance. Atop the huts of the Globe and of every Bankside theatre stood the playhouse flagpole. When raised, the flag was a signal to people from miles around that a play would be staged that afternoon. J.C. Adams discusses the impact of the playhouse flags in his book The Globe Theatre and includes the following excerpt from the Curtain-Drawer of the World, written in 1612: "Each play-house advanceth his flagge in the aire, whither quickly at the waving thereof are summoned whole troops of men, women, and children" (379). The flag continued to wave until the end of each performance. No one knew exactly when they would see the flag again, for the Elizabethan theatre community lived in uncertain times and were at the mercy of harsh weather, plague, and puritanical government officials. General Structure of Shakespeare's Theatres Regarding the structure of the Elizabethan playhouses, it is important to note that, unlike our modern auditoriums with cloaked main stages, and seating limited to the front view, the Elizabethan playhouses were open to the public eye at every turn, and scenery could not be changed in between scenes because there was no curtain to drop. It is no coincidence that in all of Shakespeare's plays, the scene, no matter how dramatic or climatic, ends on a denumount, with the actors walking off or being carried off the stage. If the play required a change of place in the next scene, most times the actors would not leave the stage at all, and it would be up to the audience to imagine the change had occurred. If props were used, they were usually placed at the beginning of the play, and oftentimes would become unnecessary as the performance went on, but would remain on the stage regardless. As G. C. Moore Smith mentions in the Warwick edition of Henry V, "properties either difficult to move, like a well, or so small as to be unobtrusive, were habitually left on the stage . . . whatever scenes intervened" (Addendum). For very large objects that were vital in one scene but became an obstacle to the actors on stage in the next scene, it is most likely that the action was halted for their prompt removal. Due to the lack of props and scenery, the acting troupes relied very heavily on costumes. Even though Elizabethan audiences were deprived of eye-catching background scenes, they were never disappointed with the extravagant, breathtaking clothes that were a certainty at every performance. Above we saw Henslowe's inventory of costumes that he stored in the Rose, and certainly every theatrical company in Shakespeare's day would have had a large and costly wardrobe. In Robert Greene's A Quip for an Upstart Courtier, written in 1592, a player is dressed in a cloth gown "faced down before with grey coney, and laid thick on the sleeves with lace, which he quaintly bore up to show his white taffeta hose and black silk stockings. A huge ruff about his neck wrapped in his great head like a wicker cage, a little hat with brims like the wings of a doublet, wherein he wore a jewel of glass, as broad as a chancery seal." How to cite this article:References Adams, J.C. The Globe Playhouse: Its Design and Equipment. Barnes and Noble: New York, 1964. Bentley, Gerald Eades. Shakespeare: A Biographical Handbook. Yale University Press: New Haven, 1968. Berry, Herbert, ed. The First Public Playhouse. Queen's University Press: Montreal, 1979. Boyce, Charles. Shakespeare A to Z. Facts on File: New York, 1990. Rutter, Carol Chillington. Documents of the Rose Playhouse. Manchester University Press: Manchester, 1984. Smith, G. C. Moore, Litt.D., ed. The Life of Henry V. Blackie & Son Limited: London, 1937. ______ Related Resources  Daily Life in Shakespeare's London What did Shakespeare drink? What did Shakespeare look like? Shakespeare's Language Words Shakespeare Invented Reasons Behind Shakespeare's Influence Shakespeare's Blank Verse Play Chronology Shakespeare Characters A to Z Pronouncing Shakespearean Names Shakespeare's Metaphors and Similes How many plays did Shakespeare write? Shakespeare Quotations (by Play and Theme) The First Folio Most Common Questions About Shakespeare |
Related Resources Chronological List of Elizabethan Playhouses Shakespeare's Audience in his Day Evolution of the Elizabethan Playhouse The Fight of Shakespeare's Career Theatrical Allusions in As You Like It The Rose Theatre Going to a Play in Shakespeare's London London's First Public Playhouse Shakespeare's Boss Blackfriars: Shakespeare Hits the Big Time Theatre Closures Due to Disease Entertainment in Elizabethan England Shocking Elizabethan Drama How Many Plays Did Shakespeare Write?
The Greatest Actor of Shakespeare's Day Edward Alleyn: Master of the Elizabethan Stage William Kempe: Shakespeare's Clown James I and Shakespeare's Sources for Macbeth Shakespeare's Compliments to King James Shakespeare's England Shakespeare as Actor and Playwright
Four Periods of Shakespeare's Life |
The tiring-house was enclosed in curtains at all times so the less dramatic elements of play production would be hidden from the audience. Two doors on either side of the tiring-house allowed the actors entrance onto the stage. Sometimes an actor would come through the "middle door", which really referred to the main floor curtains of the tiring-house that led directly onto center stage. 
"The first thing that astonishes us is the blue sky over our heads. The building has no roof except a narrow strip around the edge and a covering at the rear over the back part of the stage.
The front of the stage and the whole center of the theatre is open to the air. Now we see how the interior is lighted, though with the sunshine must often come rain and sleet and London fog. Looking up and out at the clouds floating by, we notice that a flag is flying from a short pole on the roof over the stage. This is most important, for it is announcing to the city across the river that this afternoon there is to be a play. It is bill-board, newspaper notice, and advertisement in one: and we may imagine the eagerness with which it is looked for among the theatre-loving populace of these later Elizabethan years. When the performance begins the flag will be lowered to proclaim to all that 'the play is on.'" Samuel Thurber. 
In Elizabethan England, during the times when plays were not completely outlawed, going to the theatre was the favourite activity of the masses. When disease ravaged London, actors would travel across the English countryside, entertaining farmers. There were also many days devoted to feasting, such as Mad Day, Midsummer Day, and Ascension Day (just to name a few), when people would drink and make merry. Dances were popular, whether you lived in London or in a small town, and so was getting together at the local pub for sing-alongs. ©1999-2021 Shakespeare Online. All Rights Reserved.