Globe Theatre Research Paper

The Globe Theatre was one of the most famous theatres during the Elizabethan Age.. The Elizabethan Era started in 1558 and lasted to 1603. The theatres from that time period were considered by many to be the best and most important part of the culture during that time. At the time many lives were being lost as a result of the Black Death disease which practically killed people every day, and so people needed something thrilling to turn to in order to escape this death sentencing disease. It all started with inn yard theatres. A group of persons would go travel throughout the different villages, performing for the residents in a market place or village square. Several persons would offer the actors a place to stay as they were performing throughout

the villages. They started charging to see the inn. Families from all over would come and watch thr wonderful shows. Some even considered these events as festivals. A man by the name of James Burbage was first person who made the first amphitheater to perform inside in 1576. He patterned it like the amphitheaters in Rome and Greece. It was organized to be in a well-known area similar to a village square however it soon made its way to being so big it that it could not hold. The inn yards were able to host approximately 300 people while the amphitheater could host up to 3000 (nosweatshakespeare). It was only soon after that many arena like theatres were constructed and put into use, such as the very famous Globe Theatre. The Globe Theatre stimulated and amused people during the Elizabethan Age with various actors, plays, and the architectural design of the building.
For most actors during Elizabethan Era, their life was not enjoyable was not enjoyable due to the fact that they were not trusted. Overtime this changed as their reputation improved when more theatres such as the Globe Theatre was built and used, and so after a while, actors became just as popular and famous as today’s starts in Hollywood. The superstars of Globe Theatre were Henry Condoll, William Shakspeare, Richard Burbage, and John Heminges. Burbage was known for his tragedies he performed in. Condoll was known as the joint editor of the William Shakespeare collection of plays titled the First Folio. During the time of the Elizabethan Era, women didn’t perform. By law, women could not perform on stage. Young boys would play women. They wanted boys between the age of 13 and 19 while their voices were still high. Do to different health and lifestyle, boys’ voice would break at a later age then men today (Shakespeares Globe). The costumes for the women consisted of many extreme things. The men that played females had to wear much layers to portray the clothing of women of that time. Wigs were also part of the fashion. Men would wear big wigs on their head as well as huge dresses. The make-up was the worse. Actors and actresses would wear wild make up to conceal the visible scars and blemishes on their faces that was caused by smallpox, however it contained lead that was a deadly substance to the body. Male actors that played the role of women grew very unhealthy and even attained different skin diseases overtime. Some even died from the make-up (bardstage). The salaries payment varied and actors were payed according to the role they played. Boys who played females got paid the least. The Admiral’s Men paid boys three shillings a week. Actors who worked on a part time basis were paid a daily wage of one shilling per day. Main actors were paid two shillings per day. Shillings was the currency used in a money system during the Elizabethan Era (Kernodle 76).
To perform Shakespeare’s plays on Globe Theatre, they all needed the same qualities.

The actor need to have a great memory. He also had to be able to speak clearly in order to say the play writer’s lovely poetry as during that time, there were no microphones to project their voice. Actors had to be fit and able to play a music instrument (Paula 82). There were no copyright rules so full scripts were not written. Notes were made and copied as quickly as possible. So, Globe Theatre used ‘foul papers’. Foul papers were basically prompts for their plays. “The Globe Theatre was known to produce ‘eleven performances of ten different plays’ in just two weeks.” Globe Theatre was known to attract a large crowd of people in the audience by extreme amount of plays. The actors would often times be given their scripts while on stage performing as the rehearsal time was usually very limited. When plays were constantly being performed, it was called a turnover. The two techniques that were used for turnovers were: cue acting and cue scripting. It was rather difficult to remember lines from scripts with constant plays, so they would use cue acting instead. Cue acting was when there was someone backstage that whispered the lines to the actor on stage. When there was time to give the actors their lines in advanced, they wouldn’t rehearse the play but used cue scripting. Cue scripting was when each actor was only given their lines and the content wasn’t explained till it was being

performed (bardstage). “The start of the afternoon plays was announced by a blast of trumpets” (nosweatshakespeare). The separate flags of different colors were hung at the top of the theatre and it was used to indicate to the audience if the play was historical, comedy, or tragedy. Before the play, the crowd of people were entertained outside of the Globe Theatre with no cost.
The first known Shakespeare play to perform at the theatre was Julius Caesar (Gaj 42-43). Julius Caesar was a tragedy written by Shakespeare. “Shakespeare was the only one who became rich from his involvement as a shareholder in the most popular theatre” (nosweatshakespeare). Lots of records of the plays were vanished during the time between 1642 and 1660. Before 1642, a big business for those who owned them were plays. Globe Theatre’s plays were very high in quality. Puritans tried to stamp out theatrical activity. Only few records about any performance survived. “The lost play by William Shakespeare called Cardenio was believed to have been performed in 1612” (Brockett 173). In 1642, a law was passed suspending performances for five years. Globe Theatre was torn down and King’s Men sold their wardrobe. Actors were performing in secret by 1647 (Brockett 278).
Globe was one of the most important public theatres because of the use of Shakespeare’s work. The theatre was opened in 1599 with its first production being As You Like It. Globe Theatre had a bit of the gothic style look. It was black and white half-timbered style. That was a very popular architectural look during the Elizabethan Era. The timbers were vertical and diagonal supporting the building. The theatre was framed with the massive timber. This made up the walls. Once the whitewash was applied, the walls portrayed the Elizabethan style. The porches were pillared and the roof was thatched, or made of straw. Globe was about 27’8” deep with a circular structure. The exterior diameter was 99’. The yard diameter of Globe Theatre was about 69’ by 15’ 6” deep. The stage of the theatre was 41’ 6” wide by 27’8” deep. The design of the building was based on the Coliseum in Ancient Rome. The architecture included features of blood sport rings. The stage area was open with no roof because plays were usually performed in the afternoon because they relied on natural light. The same play was never performed two days in a row.
“Queen Elizabeth and her court loved the theatre” (Gaj 43) In 1613, Globe Theatre was burned down during the opening of Henry VIII do to the stage cannon. The Cannon set the roof on fire burning the theater down. The second Globe Theatre was then built a year later. In June of 1614, Globe Theatre was put back together after the fire. The stage remained to put on wonderful plays. Then, 28 years later, Puritans tore down the theatre to build homes for others. A new Globe Theatre has been built for actors and actresses to perform on today (Gaj 43-47, 52.) Globe Theatre inspired and entertained people during the Elizabethan Age with different actors, plays, and the beautiful architecture of the building. The actors in the Globe Theatre did not include women but men could play them. The salaries were all depended on the part you played. Learning lines were difficult but manageable with their different techniques in learning them. The different genres of plays performed were historical, comedy, and tragedy but records of many plays were lost and destroyed when the Puritans tore down Globe Theatre and many others like Globe.
The beautiful Globe Theatre had been destroyed, rebuilt, and destroyed again but always had a beautiful and wonderful architecture.

The building was dearly loved and was built back up after the fire just as amazing as the original. The Globe Theatre was truly loved in the Elizabethan Era. With all the turnovers, the theatre had, it is clear massive amount of people came each night. So much, that they even entertained the crowd before the show started for free. The place was well taken care of to keep it up and together for as long as it did before the Puritans tore it down. The actors were not treated nearly as well as the actual theatre itself was, though. To think of all the boys that had to dress like women and even some dying from the makeup, and getting the least amount of pay. The actors definitely deserved more than they got. But they enjoyed their jobs. They enjoyed it so much that when the Puritans banned plays, they would act in secret. The theatre was most loved in the Elizabethan Era. And the Globe Theatre had to be one of the most special ones. When it burnt down, it only took them a year to get it back on up to show to the world. Globe Theatre was an escape from all the hardships the world faced in that time. Globe was like our modern TV. We watch for entertainment and escape, just like why people would come to Globe Theatre. The original Globe Theatre will always remind us of that escape when we think back of its amazing features and extraordinary things that

have come about in the theatre.