Elizabethan Theatre

Elizabethan Theatre

1558

The Globe Theatre:

The Globe Theatre, a large round building surrounded by the never ending sounds of the London life. This theatre was known for a certain man who would put on many plays, most of which would make the dreary life of the Elizabethan man seem merely but a nightmare. The Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company. It was destroyed by fire on the 26th of June 1613, but later in June 1614 another globe theatre was built on top of the old site which then closed in 1642.

There was a modern reconstruction that was created merely 'down the road' from the old theatre, built in 1997 and was known as 'Shakespeare's Theatre'.

The original theatre was built using timber from another theatre 'The Theatre' and it's shape is shown to be round on sketches by artists. Although on later examination, when uncovering some of the Globe's foundation, it seemed to be in fact a polygon of 20 sides. It was believed to have been three stories high and an 'open-air' amphitheatre that could have held up to 3,000 people. There was a 'pit' where you would be able to purchase a spot for only a penny, this was where a lot of the poorer people would stand squished up against each other spreading sickness around at every show. If you were richer, you would be able to purchase a seat on one of the three stadium like stands, almost protecting you from the poor below. The stage was what is known as an 'Apron Stage', leading out into the middle of the yard, it was raised roughly 5ft off the ground and had a trap door in which the actors could almost 'come out of the cellar'.

The Globe was destroyed by a fire during a performance of 'Henry VIII', a theatrical cannon was misfired resulting in the ignition of the beams and thatching. It is said that no one was hurt, only a man who's burning breeches were put out by ale.

Stagecraft:
Elizabethan theatre had very elaborate costuming, although the scenery was very different. The stage was often bare, only housing one or two props that would be used as multiple devices throughout the play (A bush could be used as a bed, chair, table). This was why the scripts written in this era were so rich with description, allowing the audience to visualise the background their own way. Elizabethan costume was very very colourful, far from the barren background. These costumes visualised a characters status in society. Makeup for men was quite simple, in fact most of the time it was hardly there, 'women' on the other hand were over exaggerated. They had pasty white faces from too much powder, dark lips and often a very bad wig. It was to make sure the audience saw that the men were in fact supposed to be women. There was never any lighting, only the natural light of the day. So most plays were performed at a certain time to allow full involvement of the storyline. The stages also had a slight religious influence, a balcony representing Heaven or 'The Above' and a trap door as a way to 'Come Up' or to represent going down to Hell. 

Advertising:
In Elizabethan times the most common and visual way of advertising was using flags. Most theatres (like the Globe) had small towers in which a flag post was placed. A flag would be placed up high upon the flag post with a picture that represented the next play to be performed at that particular theatre. Colour-coding was used in the background of the flag as well;

• Black = Tragedy 
• White = Comedy
• Red = History

Actors:

Actors in this time were in fact only men. No women at all. So Romeo and Juliet was actually Romeo and a man pretending to be a girl pretending to be Juliet. This was not uncommon and in fact, it was seen as the norm for a very long time, even pre Elizabethan.