Theatre in the age of Shakespeare

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Theatre in the age of Shakespeare

Theatre was a very different business in the 16th and 17th century. London, the home of The Globe theatre was possibly the central hub of theatre in England at the time. The Lord Mayors hated plays because they took apprentices and workmen away from their jobs. Plays had to be performed in the daytime in the open-air theatres since there was no electrical lighting, or technical effects of any nature.  Because of this they were labelled as “ungodly” and profane. Infact, the mayors of London tried to have plays banned! luckily for us, they were protected by the privy council on the grounds that the Queen enjoyed the entertainment at Christmas. The Lord chamberlain set up 2 new companies in 1594, one of which Shakespeare joined as an actor. In time this company became the richest of companies and ran continuously for forty eight years. A theatre would be host to three or more companies each afternoon as long as epidemics of the bubonic plague did not cause a ban on public assemblies in London,. The outbreak of civil war in 1642 caused all theatres to be closed.

        Alternatives to going to the theatre were few and far between, but animal baiting was of popular interest. Bulls and bears were baited in “gladiator” style arenas (not dissimilar to theatres), and crowds would pay to see this. Not surprisingly when the theatre did become a viable alternative, thousands of people paid their way in to see plays every day.

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        Despite this, the landlord of shakespeare’s theatre company refused to renew the lease on the open air theatre in which he had enjoyed much success. Instead of choosing to build a new one, James Burbage (the company director) fitted out a small theatre in a hall in Blackfriars just below St Pauls. This had the significant effect of moving actors indoors, which still remains the same today. Unfortunately, the residents of that area refused to welcome a new theatre complaining of the noise and crowds, therefore after 2 years of fruitless searching for a suitable location, it was decided that ...

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