The Elizabethan Stage

1. The Elizabethan Stage Feature Menu • The Elizabethan Stage • Early Elizabethan Theaters • The First Permanent Theater • The Globe • The Globe’s Stage • The Sets • The Actors • The Audience

2. The Elizabethan Stage The Elizabethan stage was very different from the type of stage most common today—the proscenium stage. [End of Section]

3. Early Elizabethan Theaters Before permanent theaters were built, wandering acting companies set up stages—or platforms—in the courtyards of inns. • The audience stood around three sides of the stage or sat in balconies surrounding the inn yard. [End of Section]

4. The First Permanent Theater The first permanent theater in England was • built by James Burbage in 1576 • located outside the city walls of London • called “The Theater” [End of Section]

5. The Globe The Globe Theater was built using the timbers from “The Theater.” • When Burbage’s landlord raised the rent and threatened to take over “The Theater,” members of Burbage’s company tore down the structure and stealthily transported the timbers across the river on the night of January 20, 1599.

6. The Globe Shakespeare’s greatest plays were performed in The Globe Theater. It • had an open area about sixty-five feet in diameter surrounded by a circular (or polygonal) building • had three tiers of seating • was called the “wooden O” in Henry V [End of Section]

7. The Globe’s Stage The Globe’s main stage • was forty-by-thirty feet • stood five feet off the ground • projected into the courtyard • had trapdoors in the floor main stage

8. The Globe’s Stage The Globe’s inner stage was • curtained off • flanked by two entrances upper stage • had an upper stage above it inner stage

9. The Globe’s Stage The roof above the stage was called “The Heavens.” • Actors could be lowered from the Heavens by cranes. [End of Section]

10. The Sets Shakespeare did not use realistic or elaborate sets. • He “set” the scene with language and depended on the audience’s power of imagination. A lioness hath whelpèd in the streets,And graves have yawned, and yielded up their dead;Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the cloudsIn ranks and squadrons and right form of war,Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol; from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare • He could change scenes quickly and fluidly.

11. The Sets Shakespeare did not use stage lighting because the plays were performed during the day in the open air. • Actors carried torches to convey the idea of night.

12. The Sets Shakespeare did use • elaborate costumes • props—flags and banners • special effects—actors appearing and disappearing through trapdoors • sound effects—cannons and music The destruction of the Globe Theater [End of Section]

13. The Actors All actors were male in Shakespeare’s time. Female roles were played by professionally trained boy actors who • wore elaborate and concealing costumes with long, full skirts • wore elaborate wigs • powdered their faces heavily [End of Section]

14. The Audience The audience at Elizabethan theaters • arrived early, visited with friends, and moved around freely • ate and drank before and during the performance

15. The Audience • Playwrights had to write scenes that would capture the audience’s attention. • Actors used vigorous and flamboyant gestures and expressions and moved about the stage. [End of Section]

16. The End