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Queen Elizabeth I loved watching (1) plays but these were generally performed in indoor playhouses for her pleasure. She would not (2) have attended the plays performed at the amphitheatres such (3) as the Globe. The upper-class nobles would have paid for the better seats in the Lord's rooms paying 5p for the privilege. The "groundlings" were the standing members of the audience. For one penny, (4) which was the price of a loaf of bread, they could stand in the open yard. They used (5) to put the money in a box at the theatre entrance, hence the term "box office". The gentry would pay to sit in the galleries, often using cushions for comfort. Rich nobles could watch the play (6) from a chair set on the side of the stage itself. The crowd of specttors ate and drank during the performance and freely expressed their emotions. They loved metaphor and extremes and (7) were deeply moved (8) by long speeches and soliloquies. Horror, macabre scenes and revenge tragedies were (9) very popular, as (10) well as history plays where heroic deeds, battles and weapons evoked strong feelings. People used to applaud any notable event during the play, but it was only (11) at the end that they could be really noisy. There was often a "jig", a comic song and dance story, and the company would announce the next play in the repertoire. The audience would show their approval or disapproval of the choice by calling (12) , whistling and even throwing things.

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indoor playhouses

better seats

standing members of the audience

box office

long speeches and soliloquies

tragedies

jig

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1A) 21 New Globe Walk, Southwark, London.

1B) Shakespeare's Globe is best accessed on foot. There are excellent footpaths along the river from Waterloo and from Southwark Bridge. The Millennium Footbridge is 50 metres from the Theatre. Where possible, visitors are advised to arrive by public transport or by taxi. Black cabs may be found all year round on Southwark Bridge. During the theatre season there is a regular supply of cabs outside the main foyer on New Globe Walk.

1C) You have to download the form entitled ‘Access Booking BSL Interpreted Performance’ from the downloads list on the right hand side and email completed forms to access@shakespearesglobe.com. On receipt of the completed form they will confirm your seats and send you a booking reference number which you will need to quote when collecting tickets or if your require further information. 

2) The exhibition section mainly gives information about opening hours, tickets, permanent and temporary exhibitions, and tour packages.

3) During the first years of Elizabeth’s reign, the English playing companies used inns, inn yards, college halls and private houses for their performances. It was not until 1576 that the actor-manager James Burbage built the Theatre in Shoreditch, the first purpose-built playhouse in London. Shakespeare joined the resident troupe at the Theatre in the 1580s and the company (later known as the Chamberlain’s and then the King’s Men) flourished there for 20 years.

In 1596 a dispute arose over the renewal of the lease and negotiations were begun to acquire a disused hall in the precincts of the old Blackfriars priory to use as an indoor theatre. James Burbage died in February 1597; in April the lease expired, but the dispute continued for two years, during which time the company performed at the nearby Curtain playhouse. In Christmas 1598 the company sought a drastic solution: they leased a plot near the Rose, a rival theatre in Southwark, demolished the Theatre and carried its timbers over the river. To cover the cost of the new playhouse, James Burbage’s sons Cuthbert and Richard, offered some members of the company shares in the building. Shakespeare was one of four actors who bought a share in the Globe. By early 1599 the theatre was up and running and for 14 years it thrived, presenting many of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.

In 1613, during a performance of Henry VIII, wadding from a stage cannon ignited the thatched roof and the theatre burned to the ground ‘all in less than two hours, the people having enough to do to save themselves’. The theatre was quickly rebuilt, this time with a tiled roof. Shakespeare may have acted in the second Globe, but he probably never wrote for it. It remained the home for Shakespeare’s old company until the closure of all the theatres under England’s Puritan administration in 1642. No longer of use, it was demolished to make room for tenements in 1644.

The heavens is the roof over the Globe stage and it is painted with stars, moons, and signs of the zodiac. This image reflects the Renaissance belief in the influence of the movements of the stars upon the world below.

The backstage is the area behind the frons scenae, though in other theatres this term can also be used to refer to all the departments working behind the scenes on a production. At the Globe, this backstage area is called the Tiring House.

The stage was covered only if the setting of the play demanded it.