How theatre effects history and how history effects theatre
The building of the 1st Globe
and its effects on theatre
Becky Cutler
Naomi Sage
Emma Townsend
The First Globe
• The first proper theatre as we know it was called the Theatre, built at Shoreditch,
London in 1576 and the owner was James Burbage
•The first Globe was built in April 1597
• It was built due to the Lord Chamberlains playhouse being built on rented land and was
closed down after the lease ran out. The landowner hated plays and refused to renew the
lease. A year before the lease ran out James Burbage realised he would need a new home
for his company. He bought tenements in Black friars and converted them into an indoor
playhouse. However the neighbours objected and the theatre was closed down.
• After James Burbage’s death his sons rented a new plot on Bankside in 1589. They
hired a carpenter who took the theatre apart and brought it to the Bankside to build a new
playhouse.
•It was a 20-sided polygon, with galleries on three levels. The roof was thatched due to it
being cheaper than a tiled roof, but it would eventually prove to be a fire hazard.
• The Burbage’s shared their building costs with five members of the Lord Chamberlain's
Men, including William Shakespeare.
All the world's a stage; and all the men and women merely players.
• The globe theatre was not the first theatre to be build in London. Others included the
Shoreditch (as mentioned earlier), The Rose Theatre and the Hope Theatre. However
the Globe is the most famous due to the play performed there. Shakespeare's plays
have had an impact on theatre through history due to the morals and themes the
stories posses and the intelligence written into them.
• Part of the reason for the theatre being build was to allow to props and for
productions to become quite sophisticated. It also allowed for special effects and trap
doors.
•As there were no initial regulations in theater then it was possible to use plays as a
vehicle for propaganda. Queen Elizabeth placed some regulations on performances
•The audience could sometimes become violent and the crown needed controlling and
soon published plays needed a license.
• The objections toward theatre grew and soon all theatre was banned within london
holding great effect on the Globe theatre.
•All theaters located in the City were forced to move to the South side of the River
Thames.
The Second Globe
• A Year after the fire destroyed the Globe, a second globe was erected on its site
(Bankside)
•This Globe was similar to the first structure, only the roof was tiled, not thatched.
•The Globe lasted for three decades and in April 1644, two years after The
Theatres of England were closed by the revolutionary government, Sir Matthew
Brend who owned the site pulled it down and the Globe was replaced with
tenements (flats).
•This Globe, having been constructed of the timbers of the previous Globe was the
same size and shape as the original making the remains if it had survived today
very cherish able.
The New Globe Theatre.
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In the 1950’s American actor Sam Wanamaker came to London in search of the
monument dedicated to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Having reached the site of
the Globe he found a dirty plaque on the side of the brewery dedicated to the
famous theatre. He felt the Globe deserved better – a working theatre.
After years of pressuring the British government to rebuild the Globe, Wanamaker
took on the role himself along with his architect Theo Crosby.
Twenty years later Wanamaker returned to London (1969) to begin work. He
established the trust to steer the recon structure of the Globe using only the
materials used in Shakespeare’s day.
This was an immense task as well as costly. Wanamaker and Crosby worked
tirelessly at their dream for decades.
The theatre was opened in summer 1997, the delight was mixed with sadness as
neither Wanamaker or Crosby lived to see it.
Wanamaker died in 1993, even though he had not witnessed the building of the
Globe, he at least knew that it was definitely going to happen. Crosby died the
following year.
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Shakespeare’s Globe theatre is a close approximation to the 1st Globe which stands
200 yards closer to the river than the original.
On Opening night it was Zoë Wanamaker who filled her father’s shoes and spoke
Shakespeare’s prologue in Henry V describing the transformations that have taken
place at the Globe.
The grounds of the original globe are partially under an apartment complex. Since
exact dimensions of the original theatre had to be guessed, slight modifications
have been made since the opening of the theatre based on archaeological digs at the
Rose Theatre.
The New Globe Theatre is the first Theatre in London in 400 years that has applied
for a permit to have a thatched roof.
Today the Globe holds both daytime and nigh time performances and sits 1000
people, almost half the amount the original Globe held.
Shakespeare and Chamberlains men
•1594- For a brief time the Lord Chamberlain’s men acted in the Cross Keys inn in
Gracious Street, but before the year had ended they had transferred to the Theatre, the
house that James Burbage built. When they moved to the Globe on bankside
Shakespeare followed them
·Later in James I’s reign, after the Chamberlain’s company had become the King’s
Men, Shakespeare stayed on.
·For almost two decades Shakespeare was his company’s “ordinary poet” providing
an average of two plays a season.
·In 1598 the company’s lease on the Theatre had run out and negotiations with the
landlord, Giles Allen, broke down. They kept awake throughout the night od Dec
28,1598 to dismantle the Theatre (as their lease allowed) and transport the timber
across the Thames to Bankside. The new playhouse that succeeded generations would
be synonymous with Shakespeare’s wooden ‘O’, the Globe Theatre.
·In June 1613, during the first performance of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII, the
playhouse burned to the ground. The next year the second Globe was erected in the
same spot.
·The Queen saw Shakespeare’s plays when the Lord Chamberlain’s men were
summoned to Richmond, Greenwich or Whitehall.
On May 19,1603 a royal patent declared the Lord Chamberlain’s Men now become
the King’s Men
The use of Shakespeare now and
in the 1500’s
Similarities
•The modern Globe is still in use today
•Theatre staging and techniques are still used now that were used in the 1500’s for
example trapdoors, flying mechanisms and some special effects.
•Shakespeares work can be relevant to everyday life now and in the past. However
today has a wider context.
• The language hasn’t changed in shakespears plays when performed today. Yet is still
understood by the audience.
‘Shakespeare began modern theatre’
Differences
• Women could not act in the Elizabethan era
•You had to be careful when writing plays in the 1500’s when talking about politics or
royalty. Everything had to go through the Chamberlains men before being performed to
check it was suitable. However today most justified subjects are allowed to be
mentioned or performed.
• Costume then was a sign of status and a performance acted as a fashion show. Today
they are used more to represent the character.
•Lighting is an important part of theatre today. In the past they only had daylight so all
performaces were in the afternoon.
•In shakespearean times the lines were often given to them on the day of the show and
prompted. Yet today lines are learnt well in advance to the production.
Evaluation
What theatre does for history
• Attraction of the public to the theatre from the Elizabethan era increased.
•The Globe has had more of an impact on history of theatre than ‘The Swan’ and
‘The Rose’ as Shakespeare's plays were presented at the Globe and became
more popular as time went on.
•It introduced the use of special effects such as flying mechanisms and trap doors.
• The first Globe had such a huge impact at that time, that the following Globe’s
were created to represent the original theatre proving its impact on the history of
theatre. The same materials were used when building the newest Globe to recreate the original atmosphere.
What does history do for theatre?
• Historic events are re-created through Shakespeare's plays providing
entertainment for the theatre.
• Women's rights affected women being allowed to perform on stage. These laws
slowly changed throughout the Elizabethan era giving women more power and
changing the dynamics of theatre.
• The Ancient Greeks introduced theatre influencing the art of playwriting. This is
why playhouses and outdoor areas began to be built to provide a space for the
actors and allowing for props and effects to be more easily used in a controlled
area.
• The history of Shakespeare and the Globe has influenced modern play writers
and directors for example ‘Shakespeare in Love’
Bibliography
Websites:
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http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/globe-theatre/biography/the-second-and-third-globes (visited
11th January 2008)
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www.pbs.org/wnet/changingstages/episode1.html (visited 11th January 2008)
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http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/globe-theatre/biography/building-the-first-globe (visited 18th
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January 2008)
http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-globe-theatre.htm
Books
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The Third Globe- Symposium for the reconstruction of the Globe Playhouse, Wayne
State University 1979.
Reference number: 792.0942164 SHA
Pages: 82
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Shakespeare The Globe and The World – S.Schoenbaum
» Reference Number: 822.33 SCH
» Pages: 52-146
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Shakespearean Playhouses – A history of English theatres from the beginning to the
restoration 1917 Joseph Quincy Adams.
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Shakespeare at the Globe 1599-1609 – Bernard Beckerman 1962