The Playhouse
By the late 1500s, plays were being performed in two types of theatre buildings: the private theatre and the public theatre. The private theatres were small, roofed buildings in which wealthier audiences gathered to view plays. This page, however, will discuss the public theatres for which Shakespeare wrote his plays. In 1576, the first public theatre was built in London, and by the time that Shakespeare was writing his plays, there were more playhouses in London than in any other European city. Some well-known examples are the Rose (1587), the Swan (1595), the Globe (1599), and the Fortune (1600). Shakespeare and his acting company, Lord Chamberlain’s Men, performed in the Globe theatre. Appearance The public theatre was usually either a round, square, or octagonal wooden structure that, in Shakespeare’s words, a “wooden O.” Its basic structure was an unroofed courtyard surrounded by three levels of roofed galleries containing seating. The platform stage projected into the courtyard so that it was surrounded by the courtyard and galleries on three sides. The building was able to accommodate roughly 3,000 people. Because this open-air structure depended on natural lighting, all plays took place in the afternoon at three o’clock in the summer and at two o’clock in the summer. When a play was to be held, a flag was raised on the top of the playhouse as a signal to Londoners of the event. A trumpeter would also announce the impending play in song.Seating
Seating in the Elizabethan theatre was determined by wealth and social status. Each person paid a penny for admission; however, for an additional fee, one could sit in one of the galleries, protected from the elements. The wealthier patrons of the theatre were the most likely to be able to pay this fee and usually filled those seats. The poorer members of the audience, or “groundlings,” were left to stand in the courtyard surrounding the stage. Occasionally, honored guests of the theatre were given seats of honor on the edge of the stage as well.Elements of the Theatre
If you were to travel back in time and attend a play in Elizabethan theatre, you would immediately notice many aspects of the theatre’s interior that would seem strange to you. One of the first differences you might have noticed upon entering the theatre was the structure of the stage, a large platform surrounded by the audience on three sides. This close proximity of the audience to the stage created a more interactive relationship between the actors and the audience. Unlike most of today’s audiences, the people attending Elizabethan theatre were involved in the play, shouting suggestions, encouragement, or curses to the actors. When the audience did not like a character, they even threw rotten fruit at the actors to demonstrate their displeasure!Another aspect of the Elizabethan theatre that might have seemed strange to you was the tiring-house, an area behind the stage that corresponds to the backstage area of a theatre today. The tiring-house was used as dressing rooms by the actors. Entrances and exits were also made of the doors leading to the tiring-house. Actors could also enter the action from the curtained discovery space at the rear of the stage. By opening the curtains, the actors could reveal characters who were eavesdropping on the conversations of the characters on stage.
The Elizabethan stage also included a small roof projecting over a portion of the back part of the main stage which was topped by a hut. This structure was known as the heavens and contained the machinery needed to produce sound effects or to lower “angels” and “gods” down to the stage. Gods, angels, and other characters could also appear in the gallery that hung over the back of the main stage. This gallery was often used as a castle wall or a balcony. Of course, “ghosts” and “demons” must also be provided for, and so the stage was equipped with a trapdoor leading to a “Hell” beneath the stage. The trapdoor was also used as a grave in theatrical funerals.
Dramatic Effects and Conventions
The Elizabethan theatre made use of many dramatic conventions and methods of creating a total effect, some of which are similar to those of the theatre today and some of which are very different. The Elizabethan stage production used very little scenery in creating the effect of the play; therefore, the acting companies of Shakespeare’s time had to rely heavily on the imagination of their audience and the use of several alternatives in delivering the messages of their plays. Dialogue Without an elaborate stage setting on which to concentrate their attention, Elizabethan audiences were forced to listen more closely to the actors’ dialogue in order to understand the action and meaning of a play. Realizing this, the playwright made a great effort to use poetic dialogue to paint a picture of the scene that he wished his audience to envision. Shakespeare, for example, wrote primarily in an unrhymed form of poetry called blank verse. The dialogue of the characters would not only sound pleasing but include all the information that was needed for the audience to know the time and place of the action, the characters’ identities, and even the physical appearances of the characters. When presented with a young male actor portraying the character of the beautiful Juliet Capulet, for example, the audience was expected to overlook the actor’s appearance and concentrate instead on the lovely, graceful lady described in the dialogue. Soliloquies, in which the actor delivers a speech directly to the audience or voices his true feelings aloud as if talking to himself, were also used to reveal the play’s characters and plot to the audience. For the same purpose, actors also made use of asides, in which the character “thinks aloud” without the notice of the other characters on stage.
Costume
In addition to dialogue, Elizabethan actors also used costumes to aid their audiences in understanding the action of a play. The actors wore elaborate and colorful costumes that often identified a character as a member of a certain social class, profession, or meaninful group in the play. A crown and purple robes, for example, would immediately identify an actor as a king. All of the members of a certain family might wear a particular color or article of clothing as well.The emphasis that was given to a character’s clothing made the theme of disguise a common convention of Elizabethan theatre. In order to exchange places with another character or conceal his identity, all an actor needed to do was to change his costume.
Sound Effects The Elizabethan theatre also used a variety of sound effects. In addition to the trumpet blast that summoned the audiences to the theatre, music played an important role in the setting the mood of the plays. The actors also used devices to create such sounds as thunder, running horses, falling rain, and cannon blasts.The Actors and Acting Companies
Before the building of permanent playhouses of Shakespeare’s time, plays were put on by traveling troupes of actors who would roam throughout the country in wooden wagons that could be transformed into makeshift stages. These acting companies performed wherever they could find an audience, usually setting up their stage in the courtyard of an inn or at times in the home of a nobleman at his request. The traveling acting companies often had the reputation of being shiftless vagabonds, largely because of the audiences that they attracted. Audiences ate and drank while they were watching the play, often becoming disorderly and creating problems for the local authorities. In addition, wherever large groups of people were gathered, pickpockets, beggars, prostitutes, and other “undesirables” were sure to follow. During the time of pestilence, acting companies were seen as especially dangerous because they brought together large groups of people in close quarters, thereby facilitating the spread of disease.In order to gain protection and social acceptance, acting companies began to seek the sponsorship of noblemen and royalty in the late 16th century. These sponsors showed their support to the acting companies by giving them their name, not financial support. From 1594 to 1603, Shakespeare’s company was sponsored by Lord Hunsdon and then by his son, who held the position of lord chamberlain in the court; therefore, the acting company was called “Lord Chamberlain’s Men.” Later, when King James I sponsored Shakespeare’s company, it changed its name to “the King’s Men.” These acting companies performed their plays in playhouses, such as Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and private theatres.
Actors
In a typical Elizabethan acting company, there were roughly ten shareholders, several salaried actors, and apprentices. All the actors in the company were male because, due to the often crude and disorderly atmosphere of the theatre, women were not allowed to participate in the plays. the female characters were acted by young boys, who were the apprentices of the senior actors. Each actor in a company was assigned a particular type of character to portray in the company’s plays, such as a fool, a hero, a clown, etc. In addition, the actors often played more than one character within the same play. Besides being able to act, Elizabethan actors also had to be able to sing, clown, fence, perform acrobatic feats, and dance.