Shakespeare’s company built the Globe only because it could not use the special roofed facility, Blackfriars Theatre, that James Burbage (the father of their leading actor, Richard Burbage) had built in 1596 for it inside the city. The elder Burbage had a long history as a theatrical entrepreneur. In 1576 he had built the first successful ...
Technically, the 1599 Globe and its 1614 replacement span an era in the history of theatre design. The first Globe, based on the skeleton of the original Theatre of 1576, was unique not just as the most famous example of that peculiar and short-lived form of theatre design but because it was actually the first to be built specifically for an existing acting company and financed by the company itself. Shakespeare designed As You Like It, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Othello, All’s Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Pericles, and The Winter’s Tale, not to mention Troilus and Cressida and Timon of Athens, for performance there.
At this time, officially approved playhouses and officially approved acting companies had been in existence in London for only five years. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men was one of only two companies licensed to perform within the London city limits. (For more on this subject, see Sidebar: Shakespeare and the Liberties .)
He did so as a chief shareholder in the company, and by doing so he helped to establish a uniquely successful form of commercial operation for the actors of the time . This investment gave Shakespeare and the other leading actors both a share in the company’s profits and a share in their playhouse.
Globe Theatre, famous London theatre in which after 1599 the plays of William Shakespeare were performed. Globe Theatre, London.
But the wealthy residents of Blackfriars persuaded the government to block its use for plays, so Burbage’s capital was locked up. He died early in 1597, his plans for the future of theatre in London frustrated. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now.
The success of the Globe. For all its hurried construction in 1599, the Globe proved a triumph. Its first decade of use made it a favourite not just with subsequent generations of theatregoers but with the company itself. In later years the troupe paid a lot to keep it going.
Featuring many rare items, the pieces of ephemera include clipper ship sailing cards, early trade cards, bill heads, theater and music programs, stock certificates, menus and invitations documenting civic, political and private celebrations. American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series I consists of more than 29,000 broadsides and pieces of ephemera.
Provides full-text and full-image access to hundreds of journals published in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and areas of general popular interest. Each periodical is covered back to its first issue, regardless of when it began publication. International in scope, PAO covers periodicals in a number of Western languages.
ArchiveGrid is a listing of archival collections across the world. Users can search nearly a million collection descriptions from thousands of libraries, museums, and archives. Researchers searching ArchiveGrid can learn about the many items in each of these collections, contact archives to arrange a visit to examine materials, and order copies.
North American Theatre Online is a comprehensive reference work covering all aspects of the Canadian and American Theatre; Including some 40,000 pages of reference materials, 30,000 plays, 57,000 people, 5,400 theatres, 22,000 productions, 2,500 production companies and 10,500 images, playbills, postcards, scrapbooks and other resources.
A primary source (also called original source) is a document, recording, artifact, or other source of information that was created at the time under study, usually by a source with direct personal knowledge of the events being described. It serves as an original source of information about the topic.
Access World News provides the html full text articles and transcripts from a variety of national and international news sources, including newspapers, digital-native news websites, television and radio transcripts, blogs, college and university newspapers, journals, magazines, and some audio and video. Most international titles are English language. Dates of coverage vary from title to title, but primarily span the late 20th century to present. Resource also includes: Sowetan Collection, Financial, Mail Collection, Sunday Times Collection, Business Day Collection
The Billy Rose Theatre Division of The New York Public Library is one of the largest and most comprehensive archives devoted to the theatrical arts. Encompassing dramatic performance in all its diversity, the division is an indispensable resource for artists, writers, researchers, scholars, students, and the general public.
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. The Globe was designed and constructed for the Chamberlain's Men by Cuthbert Burbage, son of the Theatre's creator, James Burbage. 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 -- Will Kempe, Augustine Phillips, John Heminge, Thomas Pope, and William Shakespeare. Much of Shakespeare's wealth came from his holdings in the Globe.
When raised, the flag was a signal to people from miles around that a play would be staged that afternoon. J.C. Adams discusses the impact of the playhouse flags in his book The Globe Theatre and includes the following excerpt from the Curtain-Drawer of the World, written in 1612: "Each play-house advanceth his flagge in the aire, whither quickly at the waving thereof are summoned whole troops of men, women, and children" (379). The flag continued to wave until the end of each performance. No one knew exactly when they would see the flag again, for the Elizabethan theatre community lived in uncertain times and were at the mercy of harsh weather, plague, and puritanical government officials.
The tiring-house was enclosed in curtains at all times so the less dramatic elements of play production would be hidden from the audience. Two doors on either side of the tiring-house allowed the actors entrance onto the stage.
The Tiring-House. Rising from behind the stages was the tiring-house , the three story section of the playhouse that contained the dressing rooms, the prop room, the musician's gallery, and connecting passageways.
For very large objects that were vital in one scene but became an obstacle to the actors on stage in the next scene, it is most likely that the action was halted for their prompt removal. Due to the lack of props and scenery, the acting troupes relied very heavily on costumes.
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 took place in an inner room.
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 was a thatched roof and hangings but no front or side curtains. 2) The inner stage was the recess between two projecting wings at the very back of the outer stage.
The name of the Globe supposedly alludes to the Latin tag totus mundus agit histrionem, in turn derived from quod fere totus mundus exerceat histrionem —"because all the world is a playground"—from Petronius, which had wide circulation in England in the Burbages' time.
The stage measured approximately 43 feet (13.1 m) in width, 27 feet (8.2 m) in depth and was raised about 5 feet (1.5 m) off the ground.
The floors above may have been used as storage for costumes and props and management offices. The balcony housed the musicians and could also be used for scenes requiring an upper space, such as the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. Rush matting covered the stage, although this may only have been used if the setting of the play demanded it.
The evidence suggests that it was a three-storey, open-air amphitheatre approximately 100 feet (30 m) in diameter that could house up to 3,000 spectators.
The first performance for which a firm record remains was Jonson's Every Man out of His Humour —with its first scene welcoming the "gracious and kind spectators" —at the end of the year. On 29 June 1613, the Globe Theatre went up in flames during a performance of Henry VIII.
1614. The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.
On 28 December 1598, while Allen was celebrating Christmas at his country home, carpenter Peter Street, supported by the players and their friends, dismantled The Theatre beam by beam and transported it to Street's waterfront warehouse near Bridewell.
Shakespeare was a part owner of the Globe Theatre, and several of his plays were performed there, including Hamlet, As You Like It and Macbeth. A visit to the Globe Theatre was a big event.
Globe Theatre Facts. James The Tudors. Here are some facts about the Globe Theatre, London. The original Globe Theatre stood in Southwark, London, on the south bank of the River Thames. Today, an accurate replica stands on the site of the original building. The Globe was built in 1599, by the acting company of which William Shakespeare was a member.
Wanamaker’s vision was to build a replica of the Globe as it would have looked in Elizabethan times. The authentic replica was made from wood and has London’s only thatched roof. There are no microphones or speakers and the music is played live on period instruments.
Today the Globe Theatre offers guided tours of the facility, as well as an exhibition of life in Shakespeare’s London. The theatre attracts over 200,000 visitors every year. What next? Discover more facts about the theatre in Elizabethan England, or learn more about the Tudors.
The Globe was an open air theatre, with three floors and could seat about 3,000 people. The stage measured about 27 by 43 feet and was raised off the ground to allow access by a trapdoor.
Advertising was also important in Shakespeare’s day and the Globe would fly colour-coded flags to indicate what was playing. A black flag meant a tragedy, while a red flag indicated a historical play.