Shakespeare’s Globe Theater

History of The Globe Theater The Globe was built in 1599 in the suburb of Southwark located just outside of London near the Thames river Theaters were outlawed in London at the time It was built by Shakespeare and his partners

History of The Globe Theater In 1613, the original Globe Theatre burned to the ground when a cannon shot during a performance of Henry VIII ignited the thatched roof of the gallery

History of The Globe Theater The company completed a new Globe on the foundations of the old Globe before Shakespeare's death It continued operating until 1642, when the Puritans closed it down along with all the other theatres; they tore it down and built homes in its place

History of The Globe Theater This is an excerpt taken from Thomas Platter’s diary He was Swiss Tourist in London Thomas Platter, a native of Basel, visited England in 1599 The following excerpt, translated from German, describes his visit to the Globe Theater “On September 21st after lunch, about two o'clock, I and my party crossed the water, and there in the house with the thatched roof witnessed an excellent performance of the tragedy of the first Emperor Julius Caesar with a cast of some fifteen people; when the play was over, they danced very marvelously and gracefully together as is their wont, two dressed as men and two as women.”

The Structure of The Globe The Globe Theater was 3 stories high It was a circular building A small hut sat on part of the roof, where the owners raised a colored flag to let the town know when and what they were performing

The Structure of The Globe A thatched roof covered the galleries, where audience members who paid for expensive tickets sat (thatching is…) The center of the globe was an open courtyard known as “the pit” “The pit” is where the groundlings stood and watched the performance “Groundlings” paid the least amount for their tickets

The Structure of The Globe The Main Stage A large platform that protruded from one end of the pit This is where most of the action of the plays took place A trap door was cut into the bottom of the stage A roof covered the main stage that was supported by two columns The roof area became known as the heavens because of paintings of moon, stars, and sun on the underside of the roof Above the roof was a balcony

The Structure of The Globe The Inner-below A small room behind the main stage covered by a curtain This was the location of interior scenes in plays The Inner-above The area located above the inner-below behind the balcony located above the main stage Also covered by a curtain This used in much of the same way as the inner-below

Scenery Plays were NOT expected to be realistic Very little scenery was used Since there was little scenery, there were many short scenes in a variety of locations Instead of scenery, they used many colorful costumes, music, and sound effects

The Structure of The Globe There were also TWO more balconies located on either side of the main stage

Inner above Side balconies Balcony Inner Below

The Globe Theater Today Although the original Globe Theater was destroyed, a new Globe Theater was built in London in the same general area as the original theater It was finished in 1997 and Queen Elizabeth herself attended the first performance