Shakespeare was lucky. His acting company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later known as the King's Men after Elizabeth I died in 1603 and was succeeded by James I) used one of the best theatres in London. When the lease expired in 1598 and the landlord demanded more money to renew it, according to the story, the actors and their supporters had revenge. They dismantled the wooden building in the middle of a Christmas night and rowed the timbers over the Thames from the north bank to the south bank. There they rebuilt their new theatre and called it the Globe. It stayed there for the next 14 years until it was accidentally burnt down in June 1613 during a performance of Henry VIII. (More about the Globe in a later blog.)
At the same time, a new kind of theatre was being built in London, a smaller theatre which attracted the wealthier classes and kept the poor 'groundlings' out. They were called 'hall' theatres and gave the impression that the plays were being performed in private houses. One advantage of this new type of theatre was that they were completely closed against the elements, e.g. the rain, and that plays could be performed in them all year round including during the winter. Another advantage was that as these buildings were closed, the actors and audiences were not disturbed by the noises of the surrounding street. (I remember when I was at the Globe in 1997 and had to listen to an overhead helicopter or two as Henry V was praising 'this wooden O' and 'the vasty fields of France.') In addition, these 'hall' theatres also had to rely on inside artificial lighting.
As it may be supposed, the theatre experience then was very different to that of today. People talked of 'hearing' a play rather than seeing it. Perhaps this was because watching a play then was a very boisterous occasion. Cannonballs and firecrackers were used for background effects in the battle scenes in the History plays as Henry the Fifth and Richard the Third. Trumpets blared to announce the entrance of kings and soft string music was played to evoke a mystical atmosphere as in The Tempest. In addition, vendors walked about selling nuts, fruit and sweetmeats, while woe betide an actor who forgot his lines or acted badly. Then he would hear the groundlings et al.
And if all of this excitement wasn't enough, the theatres tended to attract the low-life of London as well. It was well known that cutpurses and prostitutes frequented the crowds applying their various skills.
A modern performance of 'Henry V' in the Globe today.
Author's photo.
The plays were often performed much quicker than today. The contemporary records speak of Romeo and Juliet using 'two hours traffic of our stage.' As soon as one scene was over, the actors would leave the stage as the actors for the next scene were already there waiting in the wings to make their entrance.
In addition, in order to cut down on wages, many of the actors had to 'double-up' and play several roles in the same play. An actor playing a soldier in Act 1 may have played a lord in Act 3 while a messenger in Act 2 could have played a prince in Act 4.
The play, Romeo and Juliet, which has forty parts was acted by a cast of sixteen.
In order to watch or hear a play, a groundling would pay a penny and drop this into a clay box as he entered the theatre. This box would be broken open later and the money counted in order to see how much that particular performance had made. This box gave rise to the term, 'the box office.' The groundlings would stand in the centre on three sides of the stage and the lords and merchants who paid more for the honour, would sit on benches which were situated around the inside perimeter of the circular or polygon building. Theatres like the Globe, Rose and Swan could accommodate over two thousand spectators.
Richard Burbage, the Elizabethan Kenneth Branagh
As for the actors, the more famous ones it seems, that some of them had their lines written especially for them. It is said that Shakespeare wrote much of Hamlet, King Lear and Othello with his friend, the popular actor Richard Burbage in mind. The same is probably true about the much loved comedian, William Kempe. This famous actor who played the part of the lugubrious constable Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing could easily have had his lines written especially for him by the Bard.
Will Kempe, the popular comedian and dancer.
None of the actors were given a complete script of the play They were only given their own lines and the cues that came before. This was done in order to prevent the actors selling the whole play to a rival company. This also may explain why today, we do not have any complete plays written in Shakespeare's own hand.
Finally, to end on a sanguine note, when a murder took place on stage which involved the stabbing of an enemy (or perhaps the killing of an innocent person such as the son of Lady Macduff in Macbeth), then the actor to be 'killed' would conceal an animal's bladder full of pig's blood inside his coat or shirt. When his enemy stabbed him, then the bladder would burst, shooting blood all over the place. This was Elizabethan realism!
Next time: Edgar and Edmund from 'King Lear.'
For comments: wsdavidyoung@gmail.com or Facebook.
At the same time, a new kind of theatre was being built in London, a smaller theatre which attracted the wealthier classes and kept the poor 'groundlings' out. They were called 'hall' theatres and gave the impression that the plays were being performed in private houses. One advantage of this new type of theatre was that they were completely closed against the elements, e.g. the rain, and that plays could be performed in them all year round including during the winter. Another advantage was that as these buildings were closed, the actors and audiences were not disturbed by the noises of the surrounding street. (I remember when I was at the Globe in 1997 and had to listen to an overhead helicopter or two as Henry V was praising 'this wooden O' and 'the vasty fields of France.') In addition, these 'hall' theatres also had to rely on inside artificial lighting.
As it may be supposed, the theatre experience then was very different to that of today. People talked of 'hearing' a play rather than seeing it. Perhaps this was because watching a play then was a very boisterous occasion. Cannonballs and firecrackers were used for background effects in the battle scenes in the History plays as Henry the Fifth and Richard the Third. Trumpets blared to announce the entrance of kings and soft string music was played to evoke a mystical atmosphere as in The Tempest. In addition, vendors walked about selling nuts, fruit and sweetmeats, while woe betide an actor who forgot his lines or acted badly. Then he would hear the groundlings et al.
And if all of this excitement wasn't enough, the theatres tended to attract the low-life of London as well. It was well known that cutpurses and prostitutes frequented the crowds applying their various skills.
Author's photo.
The plays were often performed much quicker than today. The contemporary records speak of Romeo and Juliet using 'two hours traffic of our stage.' As soon as one scene was over, the actors would leave the stage as the actors for the next scene were already there waiting in the wings to make their entrance.
In addition, in order to cut down on wages, many of the actors had to 'double-up' and play several roles in the same play. An actor playing a soldier in Act 1 may have played a lord in Act 3 while a messenger in Act 2 could have played a prince in Act 4.
The play, Romeo and Juliet, which has forty parts was acted by a cast of sixteen.
In order to watch or hear a play, a groundling would pay a penny and drop this into a clay box as he entered the theatre. This box would be broken open later and the money counted in order to see how much that particular performance had made. This box gave rise to the term, 'the box office.' The groundlings would stand in the centre on three sides of the stage and the lords and merchants who paid more for the honour, would sit on benches which were situated around the inside perimeter of the circular or polygon building. Theatres like the Globe, Rose and Swan could accommodate over two thousand spectators.
As for the actors, the more famous ones it seems, that some of them had their lines written especially for them. It is said that Shakespeare wrote much of Hamlet, King Lear and Othello with his friend, the popular actor Richard Burbage in mind. The same is probably true about the much loved comedian, William Kempe. This famous actor who played the part of the lugubrious constable Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing could easily have had his lines written especially for him by the Bard.
None of the actors were given a complete script of the play They were only given their own lines and the cues that came before. This was done in order to prevent the actors selling the whole play to a rival company. This also may explain why today, we do not have any complete plays written in Shakespeare's own hand.
Finally, to end on a sanguine note, when a murder took place on stage which involved the stabbing of an enemy (or perhaps the killing of an innocent person such as the son of Lady Macduff in Macbeth), then the actor to be 'killed' would conceal an animal's bladder full of pig's blood inside his coat or shirt. When his enemy stabbed him, then the bladder would burst, shooting blood all over the place. This was Elizabethan realism!
Next time: Edgar and Edmund from 'King Lear.'
For comments: wsdavidyoung@gmail.com or Facebook.
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