. The Globe Theater is one of the most famous theaters of all time and ismost known for .Shakespeare’s plays being performed there during the Elizabethan time period
Sketch of the Original Globe
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
The Making of The Globe
2.
The In's and Out's of the Theater
3.
The Audience
4.
The Tragic Ending
5.
The "New Globe"
The Making of the Globe
The Original Globe, Southwark
The Globe was originally built along the Thames River in Southwark, London, 1599.
It takes the shape of the Coliseum in Ancient Rome, being somewhat sphere shaped, although there were, in fact, angles connecting the sides together. The original theater's walls were made out of wood all the way around the outside.
The land that the original Globe Theater resided on was bought in 1576 by James Burbage. Burbage allowed the Lord Chamberlain’s Men to use the land for two years from 1594-1596. 4 They were a company that Shakespeare wrote a lot of his plays for and were founded during the reign of Elizabeth I in 1594.
The theater didn't have a roof and was just wooden walls all around the sides. During these times, not having a roof worked to the advantage of the actors as well as the audience because electricity had not been invented yet and most plays took place in the daytime. Candelabra's and different little candles around the Globe were lit when there were night performances.
Side View
Aerial View
The In's and Out's of the Theater:
The exterior was framed with wood, constructing angles that gave it it's "globe" shape.
To watch a show, one would usually pay about a penny or two depending on where their seats were and the whole theater sat around 2,000 people.
The stage was about six feet tall from the ground-level audience, the audience closest to the stage paid very little for their spot, being that there wasn't even chairs to sit on.
Backstage, the actors had a tiring house, which was not used for sleeping but for putting on their costumes. The name "tire" was taken from the word "attire", thus the name.
Passageway behind the stage
These dressing rooms backstage oftentimes had access to the prop room as well and were all connected through passageways and stairways.
Although there wasn't a pit for musicians to play, there was a musicians gallery where there were musicians playing instruments with music that went along to the plot and were usually hid by curtains so the audience couldn't see them playing.
At the top of the globe, the small structure resembling a mini house was called "the hut". Actors could travel from the tiring house up to the hut between scenes.
The Hut
Audience:
On the bottom floor, and the area closest to the stage, there were oftentimes beggars, people trying to sell things, and yelling. This was not a pleasant place for one to sit if they were there to enjoy the show. There was also prostitution and gambling that went on here too, extremely different than theater etiquette one would see today.
Looking up from the Ground of the Globe
The higher up your seat was, the more money one had to pay. A reason for this was that the rich didn't want to associate themselves with the bottom floor audience, or any audience below them. If one's seats were higher physically, then it meant that this person was "higher" status as well and were superior to the peasants.
Even if the rich had seats that were higher and paid more money for them, it didn't mean that these seats were more comfortable or cushioned. Due to the constant weather exposure and outdoor performances, there was no other choice but to make the seats wooden benches.
The Uncomfortable Wooden Benches
"Two-Penny" seats located around the walls of the structure.
3. The seats located around the sides of the Globe were called the two-penny gallery seats. They were called this because those who had purchased these tickets paid twice as much as those who were in muddles on the ground level. Those on the ground-level were called "groundlings".
Tragic Ending:
On June 29th, 1613, while Henry VII was playing, the theater caught fire.
A huge cannon was oftentimes set off at the beginnings of these shows as well as throughout the show for special effects.
The fire from the cannon was suspected to catch onto a wooden beam that was used to hold the structure up.
Fire hazards were not discussed at the time and the material of the thatched roof was not discussed as a fire hazard either.
The cannon was stuffed with wadding and gunpowder and the unfortunate reality was that the beam caught on fire, which led to the roof catching flame.
Experts suggest that the roof was the reason for the fire spreading due to what it was made out of, this then caused the fire to spread so rapidly and quickly, spreading throughout the entire structure.
The Tragic Ending of The Globe
A thatched roof such as this one is known to be the main reason for the fire spreading so rapidly
The New Globe:
CATCH A SHOW EVEN IF YOU CAN'T BE THERE!
Still remains on the banks of the Thames River.
The only structure in London that is allowed to have a thatched roof in order to preserve the history of the Historic Globe Theater. The new roof, however, is coated with a special fire proof liquid that, in the event of fire or tragedy, will prevent the entire structure from burning to the ground and will hopefully just prevent the whole fire from happening.
The First Performance was done in 1993 and is still open today keeping the spirit of Shakespeare alive.
There are many "Globes" around the world that have been reconstructed in other countries according to Mulryne and Shewring.
Mulryne and Shewring:
"Today we have ten more versions of the Globe around the world. Five are in the U.S.A., two are in Japan, one is in Germany and there is one in Australia."
3. Shewring, J.R. Mulryne and Margaret. Shakespeare's Globe Rebuilt. Cambridge, United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1997.
. Shakespeare’s plays being performed there during the Elizabethan time period
The Making of the Globe
The Original Globe, Southwark
The Globe was originally built along the Thames River in Southwark, London, 1599.
It takes the shape of the Coliseum in Ancient Rome, being somewhat sphere shaped, although there were, in fact, angles connecting the sides together. The original theater's walls were made out of wood all the way around the outside.
The land that the original Globe Theater resided on was bought in 1576 by James Burbage. Burbage allowed the Lord Chamberlain’s Men to use the land for two years from 1594-1596. 4 They were a company that Shakespeare wrote a lot of his plays for and were founded during the reign of Elizabeth I in 1594.
The theater didn't have a roof and was just wooden walls all around the sides. During these times, not having a roof worked to the advantage of the actors as well as the audience because electricity had not been invented yet and most plays took place in the daytime. Candelabra's and different little candles around the Globe were lit when there were night performances.
The In's and Out's of the Theater:
The exterior was framed with wood, constructing angles that gave it it's "globe" shape.
To watch a show, one would usually pay about a penny or two depending on where their seats were and the whole theater sat around 2,000 people.
The stage was about six feet tall from the ground-level audience, the audience closest to the stage paid very little for their spot, being that there wasn't even chairs to sit on.
Backstage, the actors had a tiring house, which was not used for sleeping but for putting on their costumes. The name "tire" was taken from the word "attire", thus the name.
These dressing rooms backstage oftentimes had access to the prop room as well and were all connected through passageways and stairways.
Although there wasn't a pit for musicians to play, there was a musicians gallery where there were musicians playing instruments with music that went along to the plot and were usually hid by curtains so the audience couldn't see them playing.
At the top of the globe, the small structure resembling a mini house was called "the hut". Actors could travel from the tiring house up to the hut between scenes.
Audience:
On the bottom floor, and the area closest to the stage, there were oftentimes beggars, people trying to sell things, and yelling. This was not a pleasant place for one to sit if they were there to enjoy the show. There was also prostitution and gambling that went on here too, extremely different than theater etiquette one would see today.
The higher up your seat was, the more money one had to pay. A reason for this was that the rich didn't want to associate themselves with the bottom floor audience, or any audience below them. If one's seats were higher physically, then it meant that this person was "higher" status as well and were superior to the peasants.
Even if the rich had seats that were higher and paid more money for them, it didn't mean that these seats were more comfortable or cushioned. Due to the constant weather exposure and outdoor performances, there was no other choice but to make the seats wooden benches.
3. The seats located around the sides of the Globe were called the two-penny gallery seats. They were called this because those who had purchased these tickets paid twice as much as those who were in muddles on the ground level. Those on the ground-level were called "groundlings".
Tragic Ending:
On June 29th, 1613, while Henry VII was playing, the theater caught fire.
A huge cannon was oftentimes set off at the beginnings of these shows as well as throughout the show for special effects.
The fire from the cannon was suspected to catch onto a wooden beam that was used to hold the structure up.
Fire hazards were not discussed at the time and the material of the thatched roof was not discussed as a fire hazard either.
The cannon was stuffed with wadding and gunpowder and the unfortunate reality was that the beam caught on fire, which led to the roof catching flame.
Experts suggest that the roof was the reason for the fire spreading due to what it was made out of, this then caused the fire to spread so rapidly and quickly, spreading throughout the entire structure.
The New Globe:
CATCH A SHOW EVEN IF YOU CAN'T BE THERE!
Still remains on the banks of the Thames River.
The only structure in London that is allowed to have a thatched roof in order to preserve the history of the Historic Globe Theater. The new roof, however, is coated with a special fire proof liquid that, in the event of fire or tragedy, will prevent the entire structure from burning to the ground and will hopefully just prevent the whole fire from happening.
The First Performance was done in 1993 and is still open today keeping the spirit of Shakespeare alive.
There are many "Globes" around the world that have been reconstructed in other countries according to Mulryne and Shewring.
Mulryne and Shewring:
"Today we have ten more versions of the Globe around the world. Five are in the U.S.A., two are in Japan, one is in Germany and there is one in Australia."
Works Cited
1. Alchin, L.K. The Globe Theatre. 16 May 2005. 28 October 2012 <http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk/>.
2. Nelson, Starla Brown and Chequita. "Costumes and Sets in Shakespeare's Theatre." Elizabethan England. 28 October 2012 <http://www2.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/costumes.html>.
3. Shewring, J.R. Mulryne and Margaret. Shakespeare's Globe Rebuilt. Cambridge, United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1997.
4. Trust, The Shakespeare Globe. Shakespeare's Globe. 2012. 27 October 2012 <http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/>.