What was Theatre like in Shakespeare's time?

The Theatre The Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Shoreditch just outside the City of London. It was the second permanent theatre ever built in England, after the Red Lion, and the first successful one. Built in 1576 by actor-manager James Burbage, The Theatre is considered the first theatre built in London for the sole purpose of theatrical productions. The Theatre's history includes a number of important acting troupes including the Lord Chamberlain's Men which employed Shakespeare as actor and playwright. After a dispute with the landlord, the theatre was dismantled and the timbers used in the construction of the Globe Theatre on Bankside.

The Curtain Theatre The Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Curtain Close, Shoreditch (part of the modern London Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until The Curtain was built some 200 yards south of London's first playhouse, The Theatre, which had opened a year before, in It was called the "Curtain" because it was located near a plot of land called Curtain Close. From 1597 to 1599, it became the premier venue of Shakespeare's Company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, who had been forced to leave their former playing space at The Theatre after the latter closed in It was the venue of several of Shakespeare's plays, including Romeo and Juliet (which gained "Curtain plaudits") and Henry V. In this latter play the somewhat undistinguished Curtain gains immortal fame by being described by Shakespeare as "this wooden O." The Lord Chamberlain's Men also performed Ben Jonson's Every Man in His Humour here in 1598, with Shakespeare in the cast. Later that same year Jonson gained a certain notoriety by killing actor Gabriel Spencer in a duel in nearby Hoxton Fields. The Lord Chamberlain's Men departed the Curtain when the Globe, which they built to replace the Theatre, was ready for use (1599).

The Rose Theatre The Rose was an Elizabethan theatre. It was the fourth of the public theatres to be built, after The Theatre (1576), the Curtain (1577), and the theatre at Newington Butts (c. 1580?) — and the first of several playhouses to be situated in Bankside, Southwark, in a liberty outside the jurisdiction of the City of London's civic authorities. The Rose was home to the Admiral's Men for several years. When the Lord Chamberlain's Men built the Globe Theatre on the Bankside in 1599

The Globe Theatre It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June It went up in flames during a performance of Henry VIII. A theatrical cannon, set off during the performance, misfired, igniting the wooden beams and thatching. According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning breeches were put out with a bottle of ale. It was rebuilt in the following year. A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June Like all the other theatres in London, the Globe was closed down by the Puritans in It was pulled down in 1644

The Palaces & Inns of Court The royal family did not, for obvious reasons, attend plays with the common populous in the playhouses, and so Shakespeare and the Chamberlain's Men would, on occasion, be requested to perform at court. During Christmas, 1594, Shakespeare acted before Queen Elizabeth I in her palace at Greenwich in two separate comedies, and during Christmas, 1597, the Chamberlain's Men performed Love's Labour's Lost before the Queen in her palace at Whitehall. In 1603, Shakespeare performed multiple times before King James I at Hampton Court with his troupe, now known as the King's Men. The Inns of Court were four law schools in London, namely the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, Gray's Inn, and Lincoln's Inn. Gala performances of Shakespeare's plays were held in the halls of at least two of the Inns of Court -- Twelfth Night in 1602 in the Middle Temple and The Comedy of Errors in 1594 in Gray's Inn. Shakespeare was interested enough in the Inns of Court to make them the setting for Act 2, Scene 4 of 1 Henry VI.

Staging & Audience

The stage The Trap Doors Heaven, Earth, Hell Groundlings Gentlemen, Nobility, Royals Set design

Props & Costume Were bought second hand Were donated to the company Were supplied by the actors themselves Indicated character class Actors were allowed by law to dress as upper classes ONLY if they were in role. Silks, Velvets (Upper class)

Music & Special FX Set scene Change locations Sound effects Traditional Medieval Flute, Lyre, Harp etc Pig's blood & animal offal used for gore and battle scenes. Cannons used Ropes & flys used for flying Characters down from the Heaven trap door.

Attitudes to women on the stage MFk rI

Attitudes to Plays fu&v=SsUzwGuda8s

And Finally... UzwGuda8s