Shakespeare

1. Whereabout in London were the Theatres located? Why?

In the "Liberties",outside the City walls and on the south bank of the river, called Southwark. Because the City Council (guilds) together with the Puritans did not approve of the playhouses.

2. Name the most important theatres during Elizabethan times.

Fortune , Globe , Hope, Red Bull , Rose, Swan , Theatre & the
Whitefriars Theatre

3. Which was the first playhouse in London? Who built it?

The Theatre was the first public playhouse of London, located in the parish of St. Leonard's, Shoreditch. It was designed and built by James Burbage (the father of actor Richard Burbage).

4. When was it built? When was it closed?

It opened in 1576. After the death of James Burbage in February 1597, the theatre's lease ended. In 1598 the building was dismantled, and Burbage's sons, Cuthbert and Richard, used its timbers to construct the first Globe Theatre.

5. Describe the particular shape of the theatres . Where did they take this shape from?

The theatres were circular, open-air buildings, surrounded an open yard (like the Inn-Yards) with the stage at one end, jutting out into the audience to about half the depth of the theatre; the width was considerably more. Round three sides of the yard were three tiers of galleries where the wealthier or superior members of the audience sat; the rest of the audience stood in the open yard around the stage and (for obvious reasons) they were known as 'the Groundlings'.

The original Theatre was designed in a mix of traditions. Its name drew attention to the Roman theatre tradition. Its circular shape, though, reflected not the Roman D but the gatherings of crowds in town marketplaces, where all the players of 1576 got their training. Building a scaffold with three levels of galleries surrounding a circular yard copied the arrangement for audiences of existing bearbaiting and bullbaiting houses. The stage, a platform mounted in the yard, was the kind of thing that traveling companies set up in inn yards.

6. Who controlled the performances on behalf of the government?

The person who controlled the performances of plays on behalf of the government was the Master of Revels. In the 1590s this was a man called Edmund Tilney.

7. Why could the theatres be closed down ?

Playhouses could be closed for many reasons, among them outbreaks of the plague, sedition and immorality, which would certainly have included women appearing on stage.

8. Who played the parts of women on stage? Why?

Young men, as it was thought immoral for women to act in plays, even to attend the playhouses. 

9. Did women attend the theatre?

Yes, women did attend the theatre although this was not formally approved of. In fact, every level of society went to the plays including apprentices, law students, craftsmen, pickpockets, ballad sellers, merchants and nobility.

Even legend says Queen Elizabeth attended the Globe secretly some times.

10. How much did it cost to stand in the yard ? And to sit in a gallery? And to have a cushion? And to sit in the lords' room?

To stand in the yard - One penny

To sit in the gallery - Two pennies

To have a cushion - Three pennies

To sit in the Lords' room - Sixpence