Globe Theatre Research Paper

“All the world’s a stage. And all the men and women... merely players.” This quotation

by William Shakespeare comes from his play As You Like It. Shakespeare, the most famous playwright who ever lived, spent many years on theater stages. However, most of his time was spent producing plays at the Globe Theatre. Even though the original Globe burned, people today still long to learn the history of the building and to visit the modern replica. Instead of traveling, people can also discover the Globe through researching and building a model.

Due to its history, the Globe can be defined as the most famous theater in the world. James Burbage built a playhouse called The Theatre in 1576. The Theatre, which was built just outside of London,

provided a site for many play productions. However, Mr. Burbage lost his lease on the land where the theater sat. He then began construction of the Globe, using materials salvaged from the original theater. Shakespeare and four other partners helped pay for the theater, which was built by Peter Smith and his employees. The Globe officially opened in 1599. It was designed to look like the Greek Coliseum, but smaller. The multi-sided theater contained an uncovered area in the center, with three rows of seats that went around the open area. At the end of the yard stood a raised stage. People would pay a penny to watch a play from the pit or yard. Seats in the balcony cost two pennies. The audience was allowed to eat and drink during the plays. The people would look at the flags on the top of the Globe to see what type of play was happening that day. The white flag represented comedy and the black represented tragedy. In Shakespeare’s time, the plays used very little scenery and few props. The actors’ costumes did not look historically correct but modern instead. Both the male and female parts were played by men. Because they wore heavy white make-up containing lead, many of the boys died young. In 1613, the Globe burned to the ground. Before they rebuilt the Globe they had to transfer the parts across the Thames River in London England, and it was quickly rebuilt.
Since many people will never have the opportunity to visit the Globe Theatre, they can imagine what it looks like by examining a model. The materials used in the actual Globe Theatre included lumber. In the model, instead of lumber, the builders used dowel rods and popsicle sticks. Although the builders of the real Globe used stone and plaster, the team constructed the model with foam board. The mortar was replaced with hot glue. Much like the actual Globe Theatre, the model was composed of three floors, but they were made of foam board. Instead of wooden seats, the replica held paper ones. Both the Globe and the model had ten sides. The famous Globe measured ninety-nine feet in diameter, but the replica was made on a much smaller scale. In Shakespeare’s time, the Globe displayed flags to represent the type of play presented. The team members placed a white flag on the model to represent comedy. It took six months to build the Globe Theatre, but the team constructed the replica in approximately twenty hours.
Hamza Ramawi, Evan Rigney, and I worked very hard to construct the model, encountering problems and successes.

We first bought materials, including foam board, dowel rods, moss, popsicle sticks, and paint. We also assembled glue sticks, glue guns, and paint brushes. The first day we met at Evan’s house. We made a sketch by researching the actual dimensions and creating a scale model. After that, we went to Evan’s mother’s office at the University of Evansville to look at models built by her set director. The second workday was held at school, where we cut out the foundation of the building. The team ran into its first problem when we disagreed about constructing the floors. We decided to wait until later to make the floors. Our third and fourth meetings took place at Hamza’s house. While Hamza drew art on the outside of the model, Evan and I cut out and constructed walls from foam board. Hamza kept drawing while Evan and I built the stage out of dowel rods and popsicle sticks. After forty-five minutes, we realized that we didn’t have enough foam board, so we went to the store and bought more. During our fourth meeting, Evan and Hamza painted while I constructed the stage roof. The longest work day, the fifth, occurred on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. We worked at Evan’s house from 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. While Hamza and Evan built the towers and began assembling the pieces of the replica, I cut out all of the roof shingles. One major problem occurred when we attempted to

attach moss to the shingles to symbolize thatch. The hot glue ruined the appearance of the roof, so we decided to paint the shingles instead. Evan and I worked on railings for each floor while Hamza worked on painting the backdrop. After most of the pieces were assembled, we put on the roof and the stage roof. We felt a sense of pride when we successfully completed the model.
Shakespeare has made a lasting impression on our world. Also, the Globe will remain the most famous theater there has ever been. Some of the most memorable comedies and dramas ever written were performed at the Globe. Constructing a model of the theater allowed the team members to go back in time. While the students worked on the replica, the world did feel like a stage, but they took on the roles of architects instead of actors.