By: Anna Wildner, Jon Galaydick Lizz Melliand, and Robin Lewis

It is the most famous playhouse of its time. It is located near the Thames River in a district called Southwark. Constructed out of oak, deal (especially fir or pine planks), and stolen playhouse frames. It cost 1 penny to stand in the open courtyard and 2 pennies to sit in the galleries and watch the plays.

 Open courtyard  Octagonal amphitheater  Diameter of 100 feet  Seating capacity of 3,000 people  Three stories high  Stage was 44 feet wide and 26 feet deep  The stage was 5 feet off the ground  Trap door on the stage  On the back wall there was a balcony famously known for the scene from Romeo and Juliet

 During the performance of Henry VIII in 1613 a cannon was shot and made the thatched roof catch fire.  It burned to the ground but was later reconstructed a year later  The new Globe operated until 1642  In 1642, because it was a source of entertainment, the Puritans closed it down  The Puritans later destroyed the Globe and built tenements on its foundation

 For the next 352 years, the Globe Theatre was forgotten  In 1989, the foundations of the Globe were rediscovered  Construction of a new Globe Theatre began in 1993 under the vision of Sam Wanamaker near the original  The new Globe Theatre was completed in 1996  On June 12 th, 1997, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the new Globe with a production of Henry V

 Julius Caesar (1599)  Hamlet ( )  Twelfth Night Or What You Will (1601)  Richard II (1601)  Troilus and Cressida ( )  All’s Well That Ends Well (1602)  Timon of Athens (1604)  King Lear (1605)  Macbeth (1606)  Pericles  Prince of Tyre (1607)  Possibly The Tempest (1610)  The Two Noble Kinsmen (1611)  Cardenio (1612)  Henry VIII (1613)  Romeo and Juliet

 The new Globe continues to host plays and productions.  In the year it opened, it attracted 210,000 people.  Even though the new Globe is not on the same street it is in the nearby vicinity.  Although the thatched roof was the cause of the demise of original Globe, it was still included in the replica.

 Lord Chamberlain’s Men was not originally Shakespeare’s company, but joined him in  Amazingly, the most famous actor was not William Shakespeare, but actually Richard Burbage.  Thomas Pope was the co- owner of the famous playhouse as well as a comic actor.  John Hemminges was a famous actor and later became the manager of Lord Chamberlain’s Men in 1594.

 The Globe’s motto is “Totus mundus agit histrionem” which means the whole world is a playhouse.  Since there was no lighting in the playhouse the plays occurred in the early afternoon (2 pm till 4 or 5 pm)  There were not any backdrops and hardly any props; therefore, the viewers had to use their imagination.

“Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.” absolute Shakespeare. n.p., Web. 1 April “Shakespeare’s Globe.” Shakespeare Resource Center. n.p., 5 Feb Web. 1 April “Shakespeare’s Theater.” Folger Shakespeare Library. n.p., n.d. Web. 1 April 2012.