English - The globe: Shakespeare's Theatre (B1-B2)

let's visit the Globe Theatre in London The Globe Theatre which you can see here and visit today is in fact the third Globe Theatre the first Globe Theatre was built in about fifteen ninety-eight and it opened for its first production in 1599 it was one of four important theaters in this area the other three were the Hope the Swan and the Rose the original globe was not built precisely on the same spot as the modern-day globe at that time the River Thames was wider and the yard would have been in the river the original site

is close by just 200 yards away the foundations of the globe were rediscovered in 1989 and the site is marked by a plaque hopefully one day they will be properly excavated to reveal more of their secrets theaters were generally built on the south bank rather than on the north bank of the River Thames in the times of Elizabeth the First Bank side as the area was known was the place Londoners would come for entertainment the bear gardens where bear or bull baiting took place were very popular even with the Queen herself theater-going was a favorite

pastime of all classes and walks of life the public would travel over the river to the theaters on little ferry boats if they could afford it or by walking over the London Bridge the only bridge across the river at that time theaters would advertise the fact that they were going to put on a performance by raising a flag over the theatre which could be seen from the north bank so the first row was open for performances in 1599 and it would host some of Shakespeare's greatest works over the next 10 years it saw the death

of Queen Elizabeth and the accession to the throne of James the first the first robe burnt down in 1613 in a dramatic accident a cannon which was fired to create special effects during a performance of Henry the eighth's Shakespeare's last play set fire to the roof of thatch and the whole theater burnt down the second globe was built on the same site just one year later in 1614 it survived until 1642 when the Puritans closed down all theatres as well as all other forms of entertainment the Puritans knocked down the theater completely in 1644 and

built tenements on the site this third globe is a faithful reproduction of the original as faithful as possible given the relatively small amount of information available it was thanks to the determination and the vision of an American Sam Wanamaker that construction began in 1993 it was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth the second in 1997 as you can see the center of the circular shaped theater is open to the sky lighting for the performances was in fact provided by the sunlight so a performance would begin in the middle of the afternoon and finished before dark so

that the audience could get home safely there were no performances during Lent or during outbreaks of the plague the roof of this reproduction is in Norfolk read thatch like the original and it is the first that's roof in London since the Great Fire of 1666 the walls are built of Lincolnshire oak timbers and plaster made of sand lime and goat hair the layout of the interior has been determined by using the only picture of the interior of an Elizabethan theatre which has come down to us the sketch was made by a Dutch traveler Johannes Davitt

and copied by his friend Harvin van buco and it is of the Swan theatre the globe is a circular 20 sided shape the open air is called the pit or the yard and it is for members of the audience who are standing The Groundlings the yard was the cheapest place to watch a play and it cost a penny about a thousand people would be Groundlings around the yard are the galleries which are more protected from the elements the galleries held two to three thousand people who paid two or more pennies to sit the most expensive

areas in the galleries were those closest to the stage from which the performance could be best heard play goers in shakespeare's times would say I'm going to hear a play and not I'm going to see a play showing how important the script was from here that could also be best seen by the rest of the audience showing off their finery the new globe sits 900 people in the galleries and houses 700 in the Pitt actors were all men and boys and they played both male and female roles costumes were elaborate and specially made the stage

projects halfway into the pit so the audience would stand on three sides of it some would even sit on the edge of the stage itself the roof of the stage is supported by two Herculean pillars made of single tree trunks and painted to represent marble in the style of Greek or Roman buildings the roof of the stage is called the heavens and it is from here that gods would descend to the stage lowered through a trapdoor on ropes the roof air is hollow for special effects the heavens are painted with images of the the moon

and the signs of the zodiac behind the pillars is the fronds Shinae or stage wall this wall contains the doors through which the actors would make their entrances the doors lead to the tiring house the place where actors would change their attire in modern day turns the dressing rooms the stage itself is made of wood and has a trapdoor to allow for special effects such as the grave of the gravediggers in Hamlet the stages raised five feet off the ground above the stage there is a balcony which was mainly used for the musicians music and

songs were an important element in plays at the time but could also serve as the balcony and Romeo and Juliet for example The Globe Theatre are part of English history and a fascinating point of interest in contemporary London