Let’s imagine that in a city of two hundred and fifty thousand people, there are seven main theaters that offer performances almost every day, and tickets are in high demand. If we place this vision of an active theater life in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in London, it becomes a reality. In London at that time, during Shakespeare’s era, there was a true theater fever.
Inn’s Courts – courtyards of inns where theater performances were initially held.
The beginnings of theater in England
Around 1550, companies were formed that developed theater activities in England, organizing performances in the courtyards of inns (Inn’s Courts) and in arenas intended for bear, dog, and cockfights. After these performances, the people, including actors and directors, would often celebrate late into the night, and these celebrations would frequently end in fights and various disturbances. The Puritan authorities, who were not at all fond of “idlers” among whom they classified participants in such events, in 1574. Dine strictly prohibited the performance of all plays in the courtyards of taverns. James Burbage, an actor and manager of the Leicester’s Men company, found a loophole in the law. In 1576, he built the first public theater in England, simply named The Theatre, in the northern suburb of London called Shoreditch, which was outside the jurisdiction of the city authorities.
Soon, other theater companies realized the benefits of the suburbs, where the strict Puritan laws did not apply. In 1577, The Curtain opened next to The Theatre, and in 1600, The Fortune opened nearby. The theaters that were opened on the southern bank of the Thames are The Rose (1587), The Swan (1595), The Globe (1599), and The Hope (1613). These theaters are also known as Elizabethan theaters, named after Queen Elizabeth I who reigned from 1558 to 1603, when she was succeeded by James I. There were also other theaters, such as Salisbury Court. Theatre, Arena, Red Bull…, they were all overshadowed by these main ones.
James Burbage
Architecture of Elizabethan Theatres
The idea behind the construction of Elizabethan theatres was based on Greek and Roman amphitheatres. They were circular or polygonal structures, except for The Fortune, which was square. One theatre could accommodate two to three thousand people. Each building consisted of three galleries, built one above the other, surrounding a courtyard on three sides. Only the courtyard can be compared to the parterre, and its diameter ranged from sixteen to twenty-one meters. Spectators would sit either on the three galleries, in the boxes, or in the courtyard where they stood. The courtyard was open, so the audience was unprotected from rain and other weather conditions. In case the spectators wanted to find shelter, they had to pay more for the galleries that had a roof with a double ceiling. The building called the tiring-house leaned against them, where the actors prepared for performances and stored their costumes and props. There were dressing rooms for the actors.
The stage was square or trapezoidal in shape, one meter raised from the ground. It extended deep into the courtyard and was surrounded by spectators on three sides. Its width ranged from eleven to fourteen, and its length from seven to ten meters, regardless of the dimensions of the theater itself. The back part of the stage was covered with a type of shadow cover held by two columns about seven meters high in the front and attached to the tiring-house in the back. There was an opening with a lid on the stage floor, representing a grave, entrance to hell, exit for fairies, witches, or spirits. It was through this opening that the ghost of Hamlet’s father appeared to the young prince. Deities and other supernatural beings were lowered through the opening in the terrace roof. The devices for lowering them were located in a small tower above the terrace. The shallow balcony on the wall of the tiring-house, at the level of the first gallery, also served as additional acting space. This space was used, for example, in On the famous balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet.
Audience
The audience consisted of the theaters for those at the bottom of the social ladder. The most loyal and numerous audience were sailors, soldiers, carriage drivers, prostitutes, bakers, butchers, common folk from the streets… They could only afford a ticket for the yard. During the play, they would often trade, eat, drink, smoke, argue, and even fight. This scene would often resemble a stage next to the main stage. Above them, in the galleries, would sit those who could afford to pay a little more, and if they added a little extra, they could buy a cushion to sit on. These were mostly uneducated nobles, as the majority of the gentry in England at the time were illiterate. They would play cards during the performance and dodge apples, nuts, and other small objects thrown at them from the yard. A few lodges with the best view were reserved for special guests. Members of esteemed families did not attend public theaters. They frequented private theaters that were… In enclosed spaces, it was much smaller, more luxurious, and exclusive.
Scene and choreography
The Elizabethan theater was dominated by movement and words. The set design was minimal, so the actors themselves portrayed the reality of the environment. Facial expressions were highly emphasized, as they served to portray the psychology of the characters and the setting in which the action takes place. The stage had no real backdrop, and acts were separated by music or clownish jokes. Performances took place during the day, early afternoon, and the involvement and engagement of the audience, as well as certain conventions, helped in understanding reality. For example, a lit torch indicated night time. The compensations for the shortcomings of set design were the expressive power of the actors and sound effects: thunder, gunshots, trumpet sounds, bells, music, and the imagination of the audience. First, we see three women picking flowers, so one would believe that the stage represents a garden. Then we learn that a shipwreck happened in the same place, and we begin to get angry at ourselves. We did not interpret it as a reef. However, from the reef suddenly emerged a terrible monster, a blue fire, smoke rose, and then the poor spectators had to imagine the reef as a cave. However, two armies enter, represented by four swords and shields, and a person would have to have a heart of stone not to see the stage as a battlefield at that moment.
A view of the stage and the tiring house in which the dressing rooms for the actors were located.
Companies and actors
The theater companies at that time received material support from the royal court and the nobility, so they also carried their names. They were: Queen Anne’s Men, Lord Strange’s Men, Leicester’s Men, Duke’s Men, and among them the most famous were Admiral’s Men and Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Shakespeare himself acted in this latter one. When King James I took patronage over it, the company changed its name to King’s Men. Each company consisted of permanent actors who played the main roles, while the supporting roles were often hired. The performances, including historical ones, were presented in luxurious and extravagant, yet modern English costumes. Cleopatra was dressed as a high court lady, while Julius Caesar wore high boots.
In Elizabethan theaters, only men acted, and each company had two or three boys who played female roles until they went through puberty. From today’s perspective, it is amusing to imagine a boy being enthusiastically greeted by the audience as a queen. Actors often performed according to the audience’s whims, a practice that Shakespeare harshly criticizes in Hamlet, alluding to the theatrical conditions of his time: “Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you—trippingly on the tongue. But if you mouth it, as many of our players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus—but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance.” In order to develop true passion, you must acquire and cultivate the right balance that will give it smoothness. Oh, it deeply offends my soul when I hear a terrible fool with a wig on his head tearing passion to shreds, to the point of ripping the ears of the audience in the stalls who mostly appreciate nothing but meaningless pantomimes and noise. Even Shakespeare himself was said to have acted mediocrely and only in minor roles.
Christopher Marlow
Theatre repertoire, themes and playwrights
The themes of the plays fit into the cultural tradition of the English people, and most often adventurous dramas from English and ancient history were performed. In addition, English impresarios sought content that best suited the social conditions of the time, which was a period of wars, betrayal, and violence. The main character of Elizabethan tragedies is England itself, and the famous line from Hamlet “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” is just a reflection of English political and spiritual circumstances. It is estimated that between 1580 and 1640, at least two thousand dramas, but not even five hundred have been preserved. The works themselves often disappeared because they were intended for a small number of performances. The plays were sold fairly cheaply, for a price of six to eleven pounds, writers were only paid for one performance, and there were no copyrights.
Among the writers, bohemians prevailed, often called “carefree”, and in the history of theater, the saying goes that one should look for great French playwrights at court, while English ones could be found in taverns. The most famous of them, who could indeed be found in taverns, are William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Thomas Heywood… Living like bohemians and vagabonds, Christopher Marlowe was killed in a brawl in a tavern, while Ben Jonson killed an actor.
The Globe – formerly
The Globe – today.
The Globe – today.
The Globe – Shakespeare’s theater
The owner of the land on which The Theatre was built threatened to demolish it after the lease agreement expired. James Bu rbage, the father of the first public Elizabethan theatre, found a solution to the problem and in 1596 built the covered Blackfriars theatre as a replacement for The Theatre. However, this solution was only temporary, as the wealthy residents of Blackfriars demanded the government to ban the operation of that theatre. The ban was adopted, leaving The Theatre company, Lord Chamberlain’s Men, without a venue. The following year, James Burbage died and his sons inherited The Theatre, but they were unable to do anything with it due to legal obstacles and poverty. Burbage’s sons, representatives of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men company in which Shakespeare was also a member, illegally dismantled The Theatre and used its building materials to construct The Globe in the Bankside district in 1599. Thus, Shakespeare became an accidental co-owner and co-financier of this structure. It was the first theatre built specifically for one company, and also financed by it. Herakles was placed at the entrance, holding the Earth in his hands, symbolizing this theater as a microcosm of the world, like a “beehive” that accommodates a whole gallery of characters, from the elite to the street beggars. It was a building in the shape of a twenty-six-sided polygon, about ten meters high. It also had three galleries, twenty boxes, a stage that was thirteen to fourteen meters wide, eight or more meters long, and one and a half meters high from the ground. The Globe could accommodate up to three thousand people.
In addition to the Puritans, The Globe’s activities were also threatened by a fire. This happened in 1613 during a performance of Henry VIII, when a cannon used to announce the arrival of the king hit the thatched roof and wooden beams, causing the theater to quickly burn down. Everything that was destroyed was rebuilt during the following year.
The Globe is the theater where many of the most important works of world literature first saw the light of day, including Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth… The Globe was a pillar of culture in the Elizabethan era and before its rebui With its amazing power, the drama performed in it often calmed down and even made the most unruly audience contemplate. However, in the conflict between theater people and puritan authorities, the latter prevail. The theaters are closed for twenty years, and during that time they gradually lose their function. The Globe was demolished in 1644, and its construction material was used to build housing for poorer residents. The same fate befell other theaters. The same people who quickly got used to the performances quickly got used to not having them. Twenty years is enough for forgetting, for acquiring new habits, for slowly distancing oneself from this aspect of culture. The memories of the explosion of theater life in the Elizabethan era fade in the consciousness of the Londoners of that time. Only records of the large gatherings around the institution of the theater, whose main driving force was Shakespeare himself, remain. The long reign of Queen Elizabeth I is recorded in history as the “golden age” of England and a time when The shaping of a national identity and the idea of the British Empire began to emerge. During that time, there was a flourishing of drama and all other forms of art, and a rich theatrical tradition was preserved in London, as well as in other parts of Great Britain, up to the present day. This is supported by the fact that The Globe was reconstructed near its original location. The main credit for this project goes to the American actor, director, and producer, Sam Wanamaker, who tirelessly and persistently worked on this idea for over twenty years, but did not live to see it realized. He passed away in 1993, and the British Queen officially opened the new Globe in June 1997.