By Julie Rittenhouse
For the “ Hamlet to Hamlet” unit
English Literature, Grade 12
12 July 2005

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Going to the theater in
Shakespeare's day was a completely different experience from what it is today.
Shakespeare’s theater,
The Globe, was typical, with a majority of the audience standing in the open air in front of the stage.
If it rained, most of the audience would get wet.

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Audiences were not a quiet bunch but a riotous crowd who could purchase food and drink from strolling vendors during the course of the performance.
The poorest, called
“groundlings,” had to stand for the duration.
If the performance failed to please, they would talk, jeer, catcall or hiss.

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For twice the price of admission the middle class could sit in seats with a roof over their head in curved tiers around the inside of the building.
The very important or rich could sit in a position directly above the stage or even on stools on stage.

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The Globe’s company arrived early on the morning of a performance as there was much to do to get ready: they had to set up, rehearse, maybe even re-write.

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Rehearsals were frequent in
Shakespeare’s theater because there were often changes to the script—and they were always doing new plays…often at the same time as others.

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People knew there would be a performance at the Globe that day when they saw a white flag flying from the turret.

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All lighting was natural.
Plays began at two o'clock, the beginning of the show being announced by a trumpet fanfare and three sharp knocks.

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Very few women came to see plays in the Elizabethan era.
Even if they were escorted by men it was considered risque behavior.
Queen Elizabeth occasionally attended, though.

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Few, if any, women appeared on stage during Shakespeare’s day. Acting was considered a taboo profession for women.
Usually young boys
(before their voices changed) played the part of girls and older men played older women.

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The stage was surrounded by the public in the central yard on three sides.
The most luxurious amount of scenery would be to have a curtain at the rear that would cover the three doors through which all entrances and exits were made.

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Only essential props such as a bed or a throne were brought onto the stage.
The imagery was painted in the words of the playwright and the imaginations of the audiences

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Nighttime could be suggested by the actors carrying torches or lanterns, but mostly the language created the stage setting.

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Authenticity in costume design is considered important in modern day productions, but in
Shakespeare's time the actors supplied their own costumes.
As a result, a variety of periods of design could stand next to one another on stage.

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An actor could see the audience as well as they could see him, so a great connection was established between the two.
The actor would play himself against the crowd and would sometimes improvise speeches of his own to suit the occasion.

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The Globe Theatre was constructed in 1599, out of timber taken from the Theatre.
It stood next to the
Rose, on the south side of the Thames, and was the most elaborate and attractive theatre yet built.

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The Globe was designed and constructed for the Chamberlain's Men by
Cuthbert
Burbage, son of the Theatre's creator, James
Burbage.

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The lease for the land on which the Globe stood was co-owned by Burbage and his brother Robert, and by a group of five actors including William
Shakespeare.
Much of Shakespeare's wealth came from his holdings in the Globe.

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Both the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men and later the King’s
Men shared equally in the expenses and income of their theater.
That meant each got
1/16 th of the profits and paid 1/16 th of the expenses.

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The Globe was a hexagonal structure with an inner court about 55 feet across.
It was three-stories high and had no roof.
The open courtyard and three semicircular galleries could together hold more than 1,500 people.

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The stage had two primary parts: 1) The outer stage, which was a rectangular platform projecting into the courtyard, from the back wall.
Above it were a thatched roof and hangings but no front or side curtains.

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2) The inner stage was the recess between two projecting wings at the very back of the outer stage.
This stage was used by actors who were in a scene but not directly involved in the immediate action of the play, and it was also used when a scene takes place in an inner room.

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Underneath the floors of the outer and inner stages was a large cellar called "hell", allowing for the dramatic appearance of ghosts and the like.
It was accessed by two or more trap-doors on the outer stage and one trap door "the grave trap" as scholars call it, on the inner stage.
Actors in "hell" would be encompassed by darkness, with the only light coming from tiny holes in the floor or from the tiring-house stairway at the very back of the cellar.

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The tiring-house, the three story section at the back of the playhouse, contained the dressing rooms, the prop room, the musician's gallery, and connecting passageways.
It was enclosed in curtains at all times so the less dramatic elements of play production would be hidden from the audience.

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Unlike our modern auditoriums with cloaked main stages, and seating limited to the front view, the
Elizabethan playhouses were open to the public eye at every turn, and scenery could not be changed in between scenes because there was no curtain to drop.

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It was no coincidence that in all of
Shakespeare's plays, the scene, no matter how dramatic or climatic, ended on a denouement, with the actors walking off or being carried off the stage.

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It would seem that
Shakespearean audiences got more out of their playgoing experience because they had to put more of themselves into it.
Today, we wouldn’t dream of letting the actors see or hear our reactions to the plot or their skill. We are told to sit still and stay quiet until the end of the act.
In Shakespeare’s day, the audience had more input and influence.

1.
2.
3.
How were performances at the Globe
Theater influenced by the weather?
Why did the Globe’s company arrive so early on the morning of a performance?
Why were rehearsals so frequent in
Shakespeare’

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What was the proportion of women to men in theater audiences of the Elizabethan era and why?
What was the role of women players in the theater in the Elizabethan age? Compare their position during this period with those of more recent times.
Who owned and managed the Globe? How were its expenses and income shared?

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Which theater experience would you prefer, Shakespeare’s or contemporary
Boston’s. Explain why.

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 http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/Shakespeare.html#anchor195444 http://www.cinetropic.com/shakespeare/index.html
http://www.bardweb.net/globe.html
http://www.wfu.edu/~tedforrl/shakespeare/outpics.htm
http://www.wfu.edu/~tedforrl/shakespeare/inpics.htm
http://search.eb.com/shakespeare/esa/660005.html
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/theatre/theglobe.html
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/theatre/theglobe.html
Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespeare's Globe. Shakespeare Online. 2000. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/theatres/theglobe.html (July
12, 2005).