Shakespeare’s Theatre

1. Shakespeare’s Theatre
Done by:
Benedict Tan (2)
Keloysius Mak (11)
Keith Ong (14)
Teo Ming Jie (21)
John Yap (23)

2. Richard Burbage (1568-1619)
Richard Burbage (1568-1619) was the
leading actor in the Lord Chamberlain's -
King's Men
He played most of the dramatic leads,
including Richard III, Hamlet, Lear and
Othello.
He may have begun his career at 16 years,
and continued to perform until his death
He was the son of James Burbage, who
constructed the Theatre
He and his brother Cuthbert owned half of
the Globe
Although he did not achieve the financial
success of Shakespeare, Richard did manage
to leave his heirs a modest estate of 300
pounds (To put that into perspective, actors
were usually paid about 18 pounds yearly)

3. John Heminges (1556-1630)
John Heminges was an actor and
the financial manager of The Lord
Chamberlain’s – King’s men
He was the joint editor of the First
Folio
He was believed to have played the
part of Falstaff (character in King
Henry IV and the Merry Wives of
Windsor)

4. Augustine Philips (? – 1605)
He was one of the first generation of English
actors to achieve wealth and a degree of social
status by means of his trade
He was one of the six sharers in the Globe
Theatre when it was built in 1598–9, with a
one-eighth share.
Over time this made him a comparatively
wealthy man, at least as far as Elizabethan
actors were concerned.
Like Shakespeare, Phillips lived for many years
near his occupation in Southwark, in Paris
Garden near the Swan Theatre

5. Shakespeare’s audience
Almost every kind of people:
Lower class: labourers
Middle class: workers, businessmen
Upper class: Gentlemen, Lords
Royalty: Queen Elizabeth

6. Classification via seating
Lower class:
Groundlings (near the stage)
Cost: 1p
Middle Class
Sheltered, raised platforms
Cost: 2p
Upper Class:
Gentlemen’s Room or Lord’s room
Cost: 5-6p

7. The Atmosphere
The audience would eat, drink and talk
throughout the performance
Theatres were open air and used natural
light
Plays were performed in the afternoon in
the daylight
Plays used very little scenery, instead
using language to set the scene

8. The Actors
Over a thousand actors in
Shakespeare’s plays
between the years 1590 and
1642 are known.
Most of them were poor,
although perhaps twenty
famous actors acquired
respectable estates.
The First Folio itself includes
a list of 26 famous actors

9. The Actors
William Shakespeare
Richard Burba(d)ge
John Hemmings
Augustine Phillips
William Kempt
Thomas Poope
George Bryan
Henry Condell
William Slye
Richard Cowly
John Lowine
Samuel Crosse
Alexander Cooke
Samuel Gilburne
Robert Armin
William Ostler
Nathan Field
John Underwood
Nicholas Tooley
William Ecclestone
Joseph Taylor
Robert Benfield
Robert Gouge
Richard Robinson
John Schanke
John Rice

10. William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
It is not known exactly how
many roles Shakespeare
played himself
Shakespeare began his career
on the stage by 1592.
Tradition suggests that
Shakespeare played relatively
minor parts in his own plays,
mainly the parts of older
men.

11. William Shakespeare
Recent scholarship based on computer analysis of
the language in Shakespeare's plays by Donald
Foster proposes that Shakespeare acted in the
following parts (selected):
All's Well That Ends Well:
The King
As You Like It: Adam and
Corin
The Comedy of Errors:
Egeon
Hamlet: The Ghost
Julius Caesar: Flavius
King John: King Philip
A Midsummer Night's
Dream: Theseus
The Merchant of Venice:
Morocco, Messenger,
and the Duke
Much Ado About Nothing:
The Messenger and the
Friar
Othello: Brabantio
Richard the Second: Gaunt
and the Gardener
The Taming of the Shrew:
The Lord (Induction)

12. The actors – the young
Women forbidden to act in Elizabethan
law
Female roles are played by young boys
aged 13-19 (before their voices break)
Boy actors lived with the adult members
of the company
They received vigourous training in
almost every aspect of acting

13. The actors – the young
This included:
Dancing
Music
Singing
Elocution (the study of formal speaking in
pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone )
Memorization
Weaponry
Very little is known about individual boys, no
portraits and only few references survived

14. The actors – the young
There were far fewer boys than men in
the companies, which explains why there
were few female parts
Transvestite theatre (the proper name)
ended with the Restoration in 1660
When woman began appearing in female
parts, old-timers would reminiscence on
the boy Juliet having been the definite
portrayal

15. Society’s view on ‘the theatre’
Well-do-to folk: most viewed actors
as rogues and scoundrels (but they
still watched the plays)
Common folk: clamoured to see
actors perform
Despite disapproval, actors were
called frequently to act in court
Shakespeare’s company, for
example, was sponsored from 1596
to 1603 by George Carey and Baron
Hunsdon (who later became Queen
Elizabeth I’s Lord Chamberlain).
Baron
Hunsdon

16. The Puritans
Puritan clergy viewed the
theatre as sinful as it diverted
attention from prayer, and
claimed that it stimulated
“whorish lust”
Philip Stubbes, a Puritan leader
was one of the most
outspoken: he claimed that all
acting troupes were “secret
conclaves” of sodomy
Philip
Stubbes

17. The Anatomie of Abuses
You say there are good Examples to be learned in
[plays]. Truly, so there are: if you will learn
falsehood; if you will learn cozenage; if you will
learn to deceive; if you will learn to play the
hypocrite, to cog, lie, and falsify; if you will learn
to jest, laugh, and leer, to grin, to nod, and mow;
if you will learn to play the vice, to swear, tear,
and blaspheme both Heaven and Earth; if you
will learn to become a bawd, unclean, and to
devirginate maids, to deflower honest wives; (...)
and, finally, if you will learn to condemn God and
all his laws, to care neither for heaven nor hell,
and to commit all kind of sin and mischief, you
need to go to no other school, for all these good
examples may you see painted before your eyes
in interludes and plays.

18. The Crown
The Crown regarded drama
as having the power to
persuade (making action
look real), making it
possible to serve the
government’s interests
Numerous Elizabethan
plays celebrated pious and
patriotic values
Both Queen Elizabeth I
(reigned 1558-1603) and
her successor King James I
(reigned 1603-25) were
connoisseurs of the drama
Queen Elizabeth I

19. The decision
However, the Crown eventually bowed to
the pressure of the Puritans, with the
London aldermen (members of the
municipal assembly) banning all
playhouses within the city limits in 1594
Theatres were thus usually set up in
seedy nearby suburbs, where London
aldermen could not get them, side by
side with ale houses, bear-baiting areas
and brothels

20. The Theatre dismantled
In 1597, the Theatre, where the
Lord Chamberlain’s men primarily
performed, was forced to close
because of a dispute with the
landlord
James Burbage (the original
creator) bought the old Blackfriars
monastery, but the project ground
to a halt due to protests
James Burbage died soon after on
2
nd
February, and the landlord
seized the opportunity to try and
dismantle the Theatre
James
Burbage

21. The Globe Theatre
One step ahead of the
law, Burbage’s sons
dismantled the Theatre
themselves
The pieces were hauled
across the Thames to a
site in Southwark
It took 6 months to rebuild
the Theatre, and thus the
Globe was built

22. The Globe Theatre
It was one of four major theatres in the area,
along with the Swan, the Rose, and the Hope
The open-air, 20-sided amphitheatre rose three
stories high with a diameter of approximately
100 feet
Its layout was similar (1500 -3000 audience
capacity) to the Coliseum in Rome (50,000
audience capacity)
The rectangular stage platform on which the
plays were performed was nearly 43 feet wide
and 28 feet deep

23. The Globe Theatre
Not one inside picture of
the old Globe exists
However a picture of the
Swan has survived
The layout of the open
air arena featured the
'pit' or the 'yard'
It also has a raised stage
at one end and is
surrounded by three tiers
of roofed galleries with
balconies overlooking the
back of the stage.
Picture of the Swan (top)
Paper Model made by
John (bottom)

24. So how did the constraints of the
Globe affect Shakespeare’s plays?

25. Transvestite performers
The use of male actors for female roles
meant that there were very little scenes
of making love in Shakespeare’s plays
Shakespeare compensated for this by the
frequent use of bawdy puns (often
stunningly vulgar) in the play
E.g “Well, while I live I’ll fear no other
thing/ So sore, as keeping Nerissa’s ring”
(Gratiano, Act 5)
– thing and ring were puns on the male
and female sexual organs

26. Transvestite performers
This also provided dramatic irony in the
cases of a female (played by a male)
dressing up as a male in the plot
E.g Portia and Nerissa in the trial, Jessica
in her elopement (Merchant of Venice)

27. Lack of scenery
Actors could move more freely but
audience had to use their imagination for
scenery
This made it necessary to create the
atmosphere through language
E.g “Two households, both alike in
dignity, /In fair Verona, where we lay our
scene,” – Prologue, Romeo and Juliet

28. Structure of theatre
The Globe’s structure, with partially
enclosed galleries and a open yard,
presented a problem in acoustics
There was a need to compensate by
actors’ delivery, “with energy and
precision, not to themselves, but to all
parts of the audience”

29. Presence of audience
Shakespeare had to write his plays to be enjoyed
– there was thus a need to accommodate various
styles in his plays
Therefore, sources for his plays ranged form the
Latin Classics, the Bible, in popular ballads and in
true accounts of murders
Story of a pound of flesh – present in religious
tales in India and Persia
Highly likely to have been influenced by
Christopher Marlowe’s play “The Jew of Malta” as
well as a late 14
th
century drama “The
Blockhead”-
The latter has the implacable Jew, the lady of
Belmont finding a loophole, and the episode of he
ring

30. Theatrical conventions
Fine writing was not original writing –
plagiarising of plots was common
Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra, and
Coriolanus: taken from Plutarch’s Lives
Othello: Cinthio’s Gil Hecatommithi
As You Like It: Thomas Lodge’s Roaslynde
But, compare the difference:

31. Translation of Plutarch’s Lives
Therefore, when she was sent unto by divers
letters, . . . she disdained to set forward otherwise,
but to take her barge in the river Cydnus; the poop
whereof was of gold, the sails of purple, and the
oars of silver, which kept stroke in rowing after the
sound of the music of flutes, howboys [oboes],
cithernes [guitars], viols, and such other
instruments as they played upon in the barge.
And now for the person of her self, she was laid
under a pavilion of cloth of gold of tissue,
apparelled and attired like the goddess Venus,
commonly drawn in picture: and hard by her, on
either hand of her, pretty fair boys apparelled as
painters do set forth god Cupid, with little fans in
their hands, with the which they fanned wind upon
her.

32. Anthony and Cleopatra
The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne,
Burned on the water: the poop was beaten gold;
Purple the sails, and so perfumed that
The winds were lovesick with them; the oars were silver,
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke and made
The water which they beat to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes. For her own person,
It beggared all description: she did lie
In her pavilion, cloth-of-gold of tissue,
O'erpicturing that Venus where we see
The fancy outwork of nature: on each side her
Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With divers-colored fans, whose wind did seem
To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool,
And what they undid did.
(2.2.193-207)

33. Political Censors
The Master of Revels was a political
censurer who examined all plays for
political slander
Shakespeare’s history plays, therefore,
had to present Queen Elizabeth and the
Tudor line in a favourable light
This is evident in King Richard III (where
Richard is probably not as bad as he is
portrayed) as well as King Henry IV, V, VI

34. “Anglo-Superiority”
This censorship was probably why
Shakespeare portrayed foreigners in a
bad light
Examples (The Merchant of Venice):
Portia’s comment on her suitors in Act 1,
Scene 2: based on common stereotypes
Portrayal of Shylock as the villain
Portia’s comment on Morocco in Act 2, Scene
7 (“May all of his complexion choose me
so”); Act 1, Scene 2 (“I rather he shrive me
than wife me”)

35. Other factors
There was a need to fill the large stage
completely – presence of battles, duels,
songs, dances, balls, fights to fill the
space
Plays on stage were often shortened for
lack of time, thus the play we read today
maybe unlike the actual performance
It was a theatrical convention to have
scenes should contrast with each other in
style

36. The burning of the Globe
In 1613, a cannon was fired
as part of the performance
of the play King Henry VIII
The flaming wadding landed
on the Globe’s roof and
burnt it down.
Everyone escaped
unharmed (One man’s
pants were set on fire, but
the flames were doused
with beer)

37. The shutting of the theatres
The Globe was immediately
rebuilt and continued in
operation
Anti-theatrical Puritan
parliamentarians, however,
finally got their way by
deposing and executing King
Charles I in 1642 and shut the
theatres
The theatres were not to be
opened for another 20 years
King Charles I

38. New London Globe
Theatre Structure

40. Let’s go on a virtual tour!
(Note: 10 seconds of silence
have been inserted here. Please
click on the link yourself to open
the video)

41. Its construction
In 1970 American actor and director
Sam Wanamaker, founded the
Shakespeare Globe Trust in order to
build a faithful recreation of
Shakespeare’s Globe close to its
original location.
Despite many disbelieving that such
could happen, he persevered and in
1987, the foundations were built
The actual construction started in
1993, and the New Globe Theatre
officially opened in 1997

42. The structure
With the motive being to create a faithful
reconstruction, the structure was planned
painstakingly
‘Green’ oak was cut and fashioned according to
16th-century practice and assembled in two-
dimensional bays on the Bankside site
Oak laths and staves supported lime plaster
mixed according to a contemporary recipe and
the walls are covered in a white lime wash.
The roof is made of water reed thatch, based on
samples found during the excavation.

43. The Design
Open-air stage
similar to an
amphitheatre
99 feet in diameter
20 sided circular-
shaped building
Traditional building
materials such as
timber, nails, stone
(flint), plaster and
thatched roof used

44. The stage wall
Behind the pillars is stage
wall, also known as' Frons
Scenae '
Doorway to the left and
right behind pillars in
structure and curtained
central doorway for
entrances by actors.
Above door area is highly
decorative screen
' Herculean ' oak pillars
are painted to look like
marble with golden leaves

45. The ' Heavens '
The pillars support roof
called 'Heavens'. The
Heavens are painted
with the sun, moon
and the zodiac animals.
This area above stage
is hidden from
audience
A selection of ropes &
rigging found here are
used for special effects
on stage.

46. The ' Tiring House '
Side doors and
central door lead
to small structure,
back stage, called
'Tiring House'.
Area is used by
actors to change
costumes and
attire.
Virtual model by Google
Earth (top)
Paper model (bottom)

47. Overall design and structure
Open air arena, called '
pit ' or ' yard ', is 80 feet
in diameter and has
raised stage at one end
Surrounded by three
tiers of roofed galleries
with balconies
overlooking back of
stage.
The stage projects
halfway into the ' pit '
Two sets of external
stairs in the structure ,
either side of the
theater.

48. Globe Theatres around the
world (selected)
U.S.A.
Cedar City, Utah, Adams
Shakespearean Theatre
(top)
Germany
Neuss am Rhein, Globe
Neuss (bottom)
Italy
Rome, built 2003
Japan
Tokyo, Isozakia Arata's
Panasonic Globe Theatre
in Tokyo, built 1988

49. References
http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/stage/audience.html
http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/content/view/735/623/
http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk/globe-theatre-actors.htm
http://www.william-shakespeare.info/new-globe-theatre-structure-design-dimensions.htm

http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/05/02/money-in-shakespeares-time/

http://ahds.ac.uk/ahdscollections/docroot/shakespeare/imagedetails.do?imageId=17506
http://www.bardweb.net/globe.html
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/
http://www.culture24.org.uk/am10596
http://www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/shakespeares-globe-theater

50. References
http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/image58448-.html
http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk
http://www.sgc.umd.edu/plans.htm
http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/
http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/virtualtour
http://virtual.clemson.edu/caah/Shakespr/VRGLOBE/2c2.php
http://shakespeare.about.com/od/theglobe/a/Th_Expereince.htm

“The Friendly Shakespeare” by Norrie Epstein
“The Idiot’s Guide to Shakespeare” by Laurie Rozakis
“The Merchant of Venice: Total Study Edition” edited by Robert
Wilks
“An Oxford Guide to Shakespeare” by Stanley Wells and Lena
Cowen Orlin

51. Thank you for your kind attention