SHAKESPEARE THEATER:

THE GLOBEBy: Jordan Kane,

Angelina DeSantoAndrew Schoen

Shivani Patel& Tim Graham

HISTORY The 1598 decision to build the playhouse came

about as the answer to The Lord Chamberlain’s Men’s problems .The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (Shakespeare, J & R Burbage, G Byran, John Hemminges, Augustine Phillips, Thomas Pope and Will Sly) had no where else to readily perform their plays. Thus, the construction of “The Globe”.

LOCATION Located near the river Thames, the playhouse

wasn’t in central London Landed in a district called Southwark outside of

central London. Southwark hadn’t been too different from what we’d

call a "bad" city today, certainly not the place to find respectable gentry.

APPEARANCE Built to the engineering standards of 1599, the famous

playhouse was a large circular structure, three stories high.

A small straw hatched roof only partially covered the circular structure, kind of like a modern football stadium.

In the center, pushed up against one interior side, extended the 5 feet high main stage.

Behind the stage was two doors for actors changing rooms

Above this stage was a balcony, flanked by two further balconies serving as playhouse boxes.

Again like a stadium, three rows of seating forming circular bands wrapped around the interior. These galleries at two pennies, cost more, but offered the comfort of seating.

Those in the central uncovered courtyard had to stand through what could be a three hour performance, rain or shine.

WATCHING A PLAY Play attendees really had to use their imagination

because there were no backdrops or lighting to illustrate what is happening also there were very few props.

There was in fact very colorful costumes and great use of the balconies.

PLAYS PERFORMED

The first play, that we know of, that was performed is Julius Caesar in 1599

Other plays that were performed Hamlet Twelfth Night Or What You Will Richard 11 Troilus and Cressida All’s well that ends well Timon of Athens King Lear Macbeth Pericles Prince of Tyre

And possible others

THE PLOT TO KILL THE QUEEN

In 1601, the performers were bribed to perform Richard II.

The play had an Anti-Monarchic message towards English royalty.

The day after the play, there was a planned rebellion.

However, the rebellion failed, and Shakespeare's theatre was investigated for being a part of the plot.

COST & FAMOUS ACTORS

Cost For the open roof area the cost was a penny

Roughly 10% of workers daily wage For the closed roof area the cost was two pennies

Famous actors Richard Burbage

Son of the builder James Burbage Considered one of the greatest Elizabethan actor of

all time Roles

Hamlet King Lear Othello

THE FIRE June 28, 1613 A fake cannon shot during a showing of

Henry VII set the building on fire The entire building was burnt down The new building was built one year

later The new location was across the

Thames river with tile replacing the straw ceiling

END OF AN ERA

In 1642 as Puritanical forces made their presence felt in England, playhouses no longer were a place of laughter but one of evil sin.

Predictably then, all of England’s playhouses were promptly closed down to protect the good people of England.

Just two years later in 1644, where Hamlet was once performed, the famous playhouse was taken down, its presence replaced by housing instead. One of the greatest eras in playhouse was at an end...

TODAY’S REPLICA Located in Southwark at the exact same

place the original was built. Differences

The difference is the replica's exits had to be larger to fulfill with today’s fire regulations

The replica despite being built of the very same oak and deal timbers, is not in the same Maiden Lane (called Park Street today) location of the original, but is nearby.

WORKS CITED “Shakespeare’s Globe.” bard web. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. http://bardweb.net/globe.html.

“Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre at AbsoluteShakespeare.com.” Absolute Shakespeare – plays, quotes, summaries,

essays…. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/ globe/globe.html.