The Globe Theatre, a faithful reproduction of the original Elizabethan playhouse, stands as a testament to Shakespearean theatre, offering a glimpse into the entertainment and social practices of London during that era.
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let's visit the Globe Theatre in London
The Globe Theatre which you can see here
and visit today is in fact the third
Globe Theatre the first Globe Theatre
was built in about fifteen ninety-eight
and it opened for its first production
in 1599 it was one of four important
theaters in this area the other three
were the Hope the Swan and the Rose the
original globe was not built precisely
on the same spot as the modern-day globe
at that time the River Thames was wider
and the yard would have been in the
river the original site is close by just
200 yards away the foundations of the
globe were rediscovered in 1989 and the
site is marked by a plaque hopefully one
day they will be properly excavated to
reveal more of their secrets theaters
were generally built on the south bank
rather than on the north bank of the
River Thames in the times of Elizabeth
the First Bank side as the area was
known was the place Londoners would come
for entertainment the bear gardens where
bear or bull baiting took place were
very popular even with the Queen herself
theater-going was a favorite pastime of
all classes and walks of life the public
would travel over the river to the
theaters on little ferry boats if they
could afford it or by walking over the
London Bridge the only bridge across the
river at that time theaters would
advertise the fact that they were going
to put on a performance by raising a
flag over the theatre which could be
seen from the north bank so the first
row was open for performances in 1599
and it would host some of Shakespeare's
greatest works over the next 10 years
it saw the death of Queen Elizabeth and
the accession to the throne of James the
first the first robe burnt down in 1613
in a dramatic accident a cannon which
was fired to create special effects
during a performance of Henry the
eighth's Shakespeare's last play set
fire to the roof of thatch and the whole
theater burnt down the second globe was
built on the same site just one year
later in 1614 it survived until 1642
when the Puritans closed down all
theatres as well as all other forms of entertainment
entertainment
the Puritans knocked down the theater
completely in 1644 and built tenements
on the site this third globe is a
faithful reproduction of the original as
faithful as possible given the
relatively small amount of information
available it was thanks to the
determination and the vision of an
American Sam Wanamaker that construction
began in 1993 it was officially opened
by Queen Elizabeth the second in 1997 as
you can see the center of the circular
shaped theater is open to the sky
lighting for the performances was in
fact provided by the sunlight so a
performance would begin in the middle of
the afternoon and finished before dark
so that the audience could get home
safely there were no performances during
Lent or during outbreaks of the plague
the roof of this reproduction is in
Norfolk read thatch like the original
and it is the first that's roof in
London since the Great Fire of 1666 the
walls are built of Lincolnshire oak
timbers and plaster made of sand lime
and goat hair
the layout of the interior has been
determined by using the only picture of
the interior of an Elizabethan theatre
which has come down to us the sketch was
made by a Dutch traveler Johannes Davitt
and copied by his friend
Harvin van buco and it is of the Swan
theatre the globe is a circular 20 sided
shape the open air is called the pit or
the yard and it is for members of the
audience who are standing The
Groundlings the yard was the cheapest
place to watch a play and it cost a
penny about a thousand people would be
Groundlings around the yard are the
galleries which are more protected from
the elements the galleries held two to
three thousand people who paid two or
more pennies to sit the most expensive
areas in the galleries were those
closest to the stage from which the
performance could be best heard play
goers in shakespeare's times would say
I'm going to hear a play and not I'm
going to see a play showing how
important the script was from here that
could also be best seen by the rest of
the audience showing off their finery
the new globe sits 900 people in the
galleries and houses 700 in the Pitt
actors were all men and boys and they
played both male and female roles
costumes were elaborate and specially
made the stage projects halfway into the
pit so the audience would stand on three
sides of it some would even sit on the
edge of the stage itself the roof of the
stage is supported by two Herculean
pillars made of single tree trunks and
painted to represent marble in the style
of Greek or Roman buildings the roof of
the stage is called the heavens and it
is from here that gods would descend to
the stage lowered through a trapdoor on
ropes the roof air is hollow for special
effects the heavens are painted with
images of the
behind the pillars is the fronds Shinae
or stage wall this wall contains the
doors through which the actors would
make their entrances the doors lead to
the tiring house the place where actors
would change their attire in modern day
turns the dressing rooms the stage
itself is made of wood and has a
trapdoor to allow for special effects
such as the grave of the gravediggers in
Hamlet the stages raised five feet off
the ground above the stage there is a
balcony which was mainly used for the
musicians music and songs were an
important element in plays at the time
but could also serve as the balcony and
Romeo and Juliet for example
The Globe Theatre are part of English
history and a fascinating point of
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