Elizabethan theatre Seth MaryHeather Elizabethan theatre The globe

Elizabethan theatre Seth Mary-Heather

Elizabethan theatre • The globe theatre was where William Shakespeare performed his plays. When there was a play to be performed that day, they raised a flag at the globe theatre, telling everyone to come on down and watch. The globe theatre was built originally in 1599

Elizabethan theatre • It was built in London on the west side of the London bridge in a very shady part of town, full of prostitutes and pick-pockets. It performed many plays until in 1613 an accident with a cannon (used for special effects) started a fire and burned the roof down during a performance of King Henry VIII.

Elizabethan theatre • The Globe Theatre was a circular, wooden building that was several stories high. Wealthy people sat in boxes on the upper stories around the perimeter of the Globe while poorer people stood on the ground in the middle, hints the name “groundlings”. (if anyone remembers griffin groundlings)

Elizabethan theatre • William Shakespeare was the most influential playwright of the era writing a grand total of 154 poems and 37 plays. Among the most notable of these are sonnet 18, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and The Tempest.

Elizabethan theatre • Shakespeare wasn’t the only popular playwright in the Elizabethan era, one of his lead competition was Christopher Marlowe, who died early due to a knife in the eye at a bar fight in London.

Elizabethan theatre • Because women had little rights in this time period, only men were allowed to be onstage, so back then, all of the female parts were played by young boys, because they were slightly feminine looking and had a high pitched voice like a woman.

Elizabethan theatre • Actors during this period only had a day to memorize their lines, with no que cards or anything and performed multiple plays in a year. This must have been incredibly difficult for actors in long plays such as Macbeth and Hamlet.

Elizabethan theatre • The crowd wasn’t exactly the nicest either. It was perfectly acceptable to be loud and rowdy, as well as criticize and throw food at the actors. Anyone who dropped a coin in the box was able to come in, often prostitutes worked the crowd inside of the Globe.

Elizabethan theatre • People had to be very careful about which plays they decided to host and write because they could be put to death if it was against the king and queen of England, although Shakespeare believed that it a poet’s duty to write exactly what’s in your heart.

Elizabethan theatre • Theatre was almost shut down at the end of the Elizabethan era, Puritans, extremely strict protestants, shut down all theatres in London and tried to have it banded for good around 1644.