By: Anthony Tyahla, Amber Loomis, Brittany Harris, Melanie Fricchione

Shakespeare performed in courts, and universities such as Oxford and Cambridge He also performed in private houses of great lords and civic officials Sometimes went on tours into the province’s often when outbreaks of bubonic plague closed many theaters in capital. Closed to minimize risk of spreading disease through the audience

 While in provinces Shakespeare performed in churches and guildhalls  London Playhouses were built shortly before Shakespeare wrote his first play in 1590  2 types of theaters were outdoor which the public held many people and the second type was indoor which was private and held less people

Other playhouses- The Curtin, The Rose, The Swan, The Globe, and The Hope All had to be built outside London jurisdiction because many city officials hostile toward drama performances Petitioned royal council to abolish it Many theaters shared neighborhoods such as the Paris Garden which was used in ‘’Blood Sports’’ like bearbaiting/bull baiting Some places were used for both plays and baiting then Shakespeare's company moved to Bank side in 1599

Globe 1 st Globe burned down in 1613 Roof caught on fire by a cannon during one of the plays Built the 2 nd globe in the same place which was grander than the first Remained in use until English Civil War 1642 Parliament officially closed the theaters soon after it was brought down

Most theaters were open air theaters which were polygonal shaped Held 2,000 to 3,000 people Ranged from 72ft to 100ft tall Usually had social court yards, made from mortar and sometimes ash mixed with hazelnut shells In the yards stood spectators who chose to pay less, the ones whom Hamlet contemptuously called ‘’groundlings’’

 Also hazelnuts were the courts favorite food to eat during the shows  Unlike the yard the stage was covered by a roof  It’s ceiling is known as the ’’Heavens’’ because it was thought to have been elaborately painted to depict the sun, moon, and planets

Private indoor theater Built in 1599 by James Burbage The stage was lit by candles and could only hold less than a thousand people Admission to Black friars was correspondingly more expensive

 They never put curtains down on the stage when the stage crew had to come out  The way the characters speak, shows when the scene changes  Playwrights had to be quite resourceful in the use of hand properties  The use of dialogue has to be specified to show where the characters are

 Shakespeare’s stage is usually referred to as a ‘’bare stage’’ to distinguish it from the stages of the last 2 or 3 centuries with their elaborate sets  But they weren’t completely bare, often the stage helped move the props than the actors  The actors didn’t limit their acting to the stage alone, many times, they were beneath the stage, so they can emerge to the stage through a trap door.

 The stage also had ropes and winches so they can descend from the “heavens’’  Also most of the time boys played the girls  Although there were records of women being in plays, 200 years before Shakespeare had written his first play

 Acting companies in Shakespeare's time were organized in different ways, for example Philip Henslowe owned the Rose and leased into companies of actors, who pain him for their takings  Shakespeare’s company managed itself with the principal actors, with Shakespeare among them having the status of “Sharers’’ and the right to share the takings

 Five of the sharers, including Shakespeare owned the Globe  As a actor and sharer in a acting company + ownership of theaters Shakespeare was involved in theatrical industry as anyone could imagine  Although Shakespeare prospered his status under the law was conditional upon the protection of powerful patrons

 ‘’Common Players’’- one who did not have patrons or masters- were classed in the language of the law with ‘’Vagabonds and Stardy beggars’’  Shakespeare’s company worked for the lord Chamberlain and after the accession of king James in 1603, the king himself

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