Shakespeare and His Theater

Early Elizabethan Theaters

The First Permanent Theater

The Globe

The Globe’s Stage

A Performance at the Globe

The Modern Stage

The Movies and Theater

Shakespeare and His Theater

Feature Menu

William Shakespeare wrote his plays to make the best use of the theaters of his time. He relied on language to

Shakespeare and His Theater

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• set the scenes

• move the play fluidly from one scene to another

• entertain audience members from different backgrounds—from commoners to wealthy merchants to royalty

Before permanent theaters were built, touring acting companies performed

Early Elizabethan Theaters

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• in the courtyards of inns or wherever they could rent space

• on temporary platform stages

• to an audience who stood around the stage or sat in balconies surrounding the courtyard

The first permanent theater in England was

The First Permanent Theater

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• built by James Burbage in 1576

• located outside the city walls of London

• called “The Theater”

• torn down in 1599. Its timbers were used by Shakespeare and his company to build the Globe

Shakespeare wrote most of his plays for the Globe Theater. The Globe Theater was

The Globe

• a round (or polygonal) three-story building

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• called the “wooden O” in Henry V

The Globe’s main stage was a platform stage that

The Globe’s Stage

• projected into a yard open to the sky

• had trapdoors in the floor

main stage

The Globe’s inner stage was

The Globe’s Stage

• curtained off

• flanked by two doors for entrances and exits

inner stage

The balcony or upper stage could be used as

The Globe’s Stage

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• Juliet’s balcony

• the high walls of a castle

• the bridge of a shipupper stage

• Plays were performed in the afternoon.

A Performance at the Globe

. . . Look, love, what envious streaksDo lace the severing clouds in yonder east.Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund dayStands tiptoe on the misty mountaintops.

from The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

• No stage lighting was used.

• Very few sets—scenery, furniture, etc.—were used. Scenes were “set” by the playwright’s language.

• Plays were performed by all-male medieval trade guilds. Female roles were played by boys.

A Performance at the Globe

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• Actors often wore elaborate costumes.

Theater stages have undergone many changes since Shakespeare’s time.

The Modern Stage

• Most theater stages today are proscenium stages, which have an inner stage and a large curtain that separates it from the audience.

• Also common in universities and regional theaters is the arena or “thrust” stage, which is surrounded by audience members on three or four sides.

The Modern Stage

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The Movies and Theater

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• Movies are a medium of images. Movie-goers generally want to see action, vivid scenery, and movement on screen.

• Plays are a medium of words. Play-goers generally want to watch the subtle development of conflicts among a small group of people in one setting.

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