Shakespeare Theatre RSC

This document is designed as a resource for teachers which can be adapted to use with your students.
Shakespeare's Theatre
Theatre architecture
The first permanent English playhouse, called The Theatre, was built by James Burbage in
Shoreditch in 1576. The Curtain, the Rose, the Swan, the Fortune and the Globe were names of
other important Elizabethan playhouses which followed. Theatre-going was frowned upon in the
City of London so theatres were built in the suburbs, notably Southwark where the Globe was
located. Shakespeare was first associated with The Theatre and later with the Curtain and the
Globe.
Elizabethan theatre design may have taken its inspiration from

bear-baiting or cock-fighting arenas as well the innyards where
troupes of travelling players had been performing for some time.
The new permanent theatres were round or polygonal, the Globe
having perhaps 20 sides. They usually had three galleried levels
for seated audiences and a thrust stage extending into an open
courtyard. The playgoers with cheaper tickets stood in the 'pit'
surrounding the stage. The area at the back of the thrust stage
provided important playing areas: two or three doors flanking a The Swan Theatre is based on Elizabethan
curtained recess, a balcony for such scenes as Romeo's visit to theatre design
Juliet and Marc Antony's death, and probably a third level where
musicians and special effects could be accommodated. One
special effect destroyed the first Globe: in 1613 a cannonball from a performance of Henry VIII set
fire to the theatre's thatched roof. The second Globe was built on the same site the following year.
These 'public' theatres, so-called because they were designed for the general public, were very
large. The Globe seated as many as 3000, three times the number that the RSC main stage or the
National's Olivier Theatre can accommodate.
During the reign of the James I, indoor 'private' theatres began to be used by the major acting
troupes. Shakespeare was associated with the Blackfriars Playhouse where his company played
during the winter months. These more exclusive indoor theatres accommodated a few hundred
playgoers, were lit with candles and seated the entire audience. The price of a ticket was perhaps
six times that of the public theatres.
Theatre companies
While City of London officials regarded theatre-going as a noisy, disruptive activity, Queen
Elizabeth I enjoyed this art form and her approval paved the way for noble patronage of
enterprising groups of actors.
By 1593 two major acting companies had emerged as dominant in London. The Lord Admiral's
Men were led by actor Edward Alleyn who played Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine, Faustus,
and The Jew of Malta. The Lord Chamberlain's Men, later the King's Men, was led by James and
Richard Burbage. Both companies operated shareholder systems. Shakespeare was one of six or
seven shareholders in his company and therefore had a major role in its management.
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Shareholders' responsibilities included:
Choosing the plays
Overseeing finances
Organising schedules in London and for tours
Selecting and casting the actors
Managing rehearsals and performances.
In both the main companies shareholders played to their

strengths. Although Shakespeare did act, his primary
responsibility was for writing plays. Hamlet, Lear, Othello
and Macbeth were played by Richard Burbage, the
leading actor of his age. Adam in As You Like It and the
Ghost in Hamlet are among the roles Shakespeare may
have played. First Folio dedication and title page, published in 1623
Stage and theatre practice

'Can this cockpit hold the vasty fields of France?' asks the Chorus in Henry V. The comparatively
bare Elizabethan stage called on its audience to use their imaginations. A surviving props
inventory lists among other items:
'Neptune's fork and garland'
'Two moss banks and one snake'
'One rock, one cage, one tomb, one hell mouth' 1
The emphasis was on special effects and props, with

few large set pieces. This strategy allowed for rapid
scene changes as required by the drama of the time.
Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra has 42 scenes
spanning most of the civilised world. Costumes were
usually contemporary dress, often very lavish, with
little attempt at historical accuracy.
At the public theatres plays were performed at two

o'clock in the afternoon. If the weather was acceptable
This print illustrates the dress actors would of worn to a flag was hoisted to signal that a performance would
perform Shakespeare's plays. Image shows 'Courtship' take place that day. Until the companies were able to
from Roxburghe Ballads (Hereford, 1864), II, 509
use the indoor theatres after 1610, during the winter
they would perform at court and tour the provinces.
Not uncommonly the plague closed the theatres altogether for months at a time. Acting was a
precarious occupation.
Theatre was a popular but competitive business. To attract audiences the companies operated a
repertory system, performing as many as six different plays a week. Rehearsals were necessarily
brief, just a few hours in the morning, and the leading actors carried many thousands of lines in
their heads
Women were forbidden from working in the theatre so female roles were played by boys whose
voices had not yet broken. Actors often played the same kind of character most of the time: fools,
country yokels, young lovers and leading men were standard 'lines of business'.
1 From Philip Henslowe’s diary, available online at http://www.archive.org/details/henslowesdiary01hensuoft

Elizabethan and Jacobean audiences
In Shakespeare's time London was the fastest growing city in the world. It was a bustling, noisy,
dirty, dangerous, exciting place to be. For entertainment, the theatre competed with bear- and bull-
baiting, taverns, brothels, gambling and cockfighting.
People from all social classes attended the public theatres. The lower classes stood in the 'pit' near
the stage while the middle classes sat in the galleries. There were special boxes for the titled and
wealthy. Admission varied from one to three pennies. Vendors moved through the audience selling
wine, beer, fruit, tobacco and playbooks. Performances could be three hours long so audiences
were often rowdy. Actors needed energy, presence and strong voices to hold their own in such a
setting. The atmosphere of the indoor theatres was more sedate.
In 1642 the Puritans closed all the theatres and two years later demolished the second Globe,
marking the end of an extraordinary period in theatre history.
Further reading
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

This website offers detailed information about Shakespeare's theatre, illustrated by some images
from their extensive archives:
http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=10
Folger Shakespeare Library

This facility in the USA holds a wide range of Shakespeare archives and resources, with plenty
information about Shakespeare's theatre - London theatres, the buildings, staging his plays:
http://www.folger.edu/Content/Discover-Shakespeare/Shakespeares-Theater/
The Willow Cabin

This site was created by an American actor/academic and offers information about Shakespeare's
theatre illustrated with some large images:
http://www.willowcabin.com/theatre.htm
Cambridge University Press

This page details Elizabethan theatre-going, in the context of learning about Shakespeare:
http://www.fathom.com/course/28701903/session3.html
theatrehistory.com
This page offers a detailed description of Elizabethan playhouses, actors and audiences:
http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/bellinger001.html
Written by Mary Johnson

Edited by Suzanne Worthington
RSC Education

Shakespeare Theatre RSC

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This document is designed as a resource for teachers which can be adapted to use with your students.

Elizabethan theatre design may have taken its inspiration from

Registered charity no. 212481 Page 1 © RSC

In both the main companies shareholders played to their

Stage and theatre practice

The emphasis was on special effects and props, with

At the public theatres plays were performed at two

1 From Philip Henslowe’s diary, available online at http://www.archive.org/details/henslowesdiary01hensuoft

Registered charity no. 212481 Page 2 © RSC

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Folger Shakespeare Library

The Willow Cabin

Cambridge University Press

Written by Mary Johnson

Registered charity no. 212481 Page 3 © RSC

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