London Life and Theater

It was messy, messy, messy

Theater Today

When we go to a play today, we sit quietly and let the action pass us by. If we enjoy the production, it captivates our attention and we heartily applaud at end.

Theater Then

Theater was much different in S's day, when the stage was round, actors often spoke to the audience, and the audience frequently answered back. The audience hooted, jeered, cheered, snacked, and chatted throughout the performance as the action passed by on stage.

How Rowdy Were They?

During the Renaissance, says Peggy O'Brien, play-going was "a cross between the NCAA finals and a Madonna concert."

Early Theater

Theater had been the work of traveling groups of actors/jesters/tricksters, so the theaters in Shakespeare’s time were a new idea.

Resistance

Plays had only recently been presented on stage, and there was much opposition from politicians and Puritan clergy who called play-going a dangerous diversion and a stimulus to "whorish lust." (And if you look at some of the subject matter, you just might agree!)

Banned from the City

Bowing to Puritan pressure, London aldermen banned all playhouses in the city proper, and the theatre district was confined to an area in the suburbs.

Map of London

The North Bank

The South Bank

Thames River

Globe Theater

Not a Nice Neighborhood

Scattered throughout the district were arenas where patrons could watch cockfights or chained bears being baited by dogs. In fact, bear gardens and playhouses competed actively for the same patrons.

Other Diversions

Near the theatres, bawdyhouses, pubs, and taverns did a booming business; pimps and prostitutes plied their trade; vendors hawked their wares; and pickpockets, thieves, and swindlers thrived.

IRONY: Since all of the property belonged to the Bishop of Winchester, the church profited, pocketing the revenues from pimps and brothels.

The Globe Theater

The playhouse may have had as many as twenty sides, creating a circular appearance.

It was an open-air theatre that held about three thousand spectators.

There was not one toilet on the premises.

Open to the Elements

Performances were given every day but Sunday, and plays ran from two to five in the afternoon, so that sunlight wouldn't bother the audience and players.

Signal Flags

Since the city fathers opposed playgoing, they prohibited the theatres from luring customers through advertising. Instead, theatres would raise a colored flag and give a trumpet fanfare shortly before curtain.

The flag indicated the day's feature: black, tragedy

white, comedy

red, history

Going to the Show

Patrons were ferried across the Thames by wherry boats.

As people entered the theatre, they would drop admission into a box (hence "box office").

Seating – I’ll Take the Stage

Spectators could sit on cushions with the gentry in the stands or stand elbow-to-elbow with the mob in the back.

The most exclusive patrons sat on the stage.

The cheapest admission was for “The Pit” – an open area of dirt in front of the stage.

The Interior

Cushioned Seats

The Pit

Snacks

Vendors offered beer, water, oranges, nuts, gingerbread, and apples, all of which were occasionally thrown at the actors. Hazelnuts were the most popular Elizabethan snack, the modern equivalent of Raisinets.

Amenities

There was not one rest room for three thousand spectators. Nor were there any intermissions. As you can guess, the theatre smelled of urine as well as ginger, garlic, beer, tobacco, and sweat.

The StageThere were three levels to the stage, corresponding to heaven, earth, and hell. Scenery and props were minimal, yet Elizabethans loved spectacular stage effects, so apprentices were employed to work elaborate stage machinery. Costumes, however, were extravagant, often the castoffs of the aristocratic patron.

“Patronage”

S's company was initially the Lord Chamberlain's Men, but with the accession of James I in 1603 the became The King's Men, the premier company in London.

Wealthy supporters of the theater were called “patrons”

Men and Women on Stage

Since women were forbidden to act on the public stage, female roles were played by prepubescent boys - one reason there's so little actual sex in the plays.

S turned the restriction into an advantage, evoking desirability through language and dramatic action.

Production

     

Rehearsal time was minimal, as play turnover was rapid, meeting the constant desire for variety. Actors learned their parts in about a week, and some plays only had one or two performances, while hits could run intermittently for six months.

Copyrights - Nonexistent

Plays belonged to the acting company and not to the playwright. Shakespeare didn't own or have any right to publish his own plays.

The End of the Globe

  

The Globe burned down in 1613, when a prop cannon exploded during the first-night performance of Henry VIII. One man's pants were set afire, and doused with beer. The only other casualty was the playhouse itself.

Goodbye Theaters

After seventy years, the Puritans at last triumphed. In August 1642 Parliament passed an ordinance that shut down all the theatres.