Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre was built in 1599 in Southwark by a man named Richard Burbage. The timber that he used to build the Globe Theatre had actually been recycled from "The Theatre" which was owned by Richard Burbage's father. The Globe was actually built as a large, round, open theatre. A roof was then built around the outside to cover the seating portion of the theatre. The theatre actually looked like a doughnut from above. The Globe Theatre was also built with three stories of seating and could hold up to 3,000 spectators. It was about 100 feet in diameter. "The Pit" was located at the base of the stage and held the "groundlings". These were people who paid only a penny to be able to stand and watch a performance. There was another part of the stage called the "Apron Stage". This was a rectangular platform that reached out over the audience into "The Pit".

During the Elizabethan era many of the people were still unable to read and write. The Globe Theatre Flags were used to advertise which play was to be performed that day. There was limited planning involved because of advertising. The owners and actors had to ensure a fast turnaround of plays. A play would be performed as soon as it had been written - Elizabethan actors had to learn their scripts quickly. The Globe Theatre actors were known to have performed twenty different plays within the span of a month. The plays were usually different every day, in fact the most consecutive performances of a Globe Theatre play was nine. Towering above the Globe was a small tower with a flag pole. Flags were raised on the day of the performance which sometimes displayed a picture advertising of the next play to be performed. An even simpler and cheaper method was used to advertise the plays - different colors were used which indicated that a performance was to be staged that day and whether the play was based on comedy, tragedy or history. Colored flags were often used outside the theatre to display the type of play that was to be performed. They used red flags for history plays, white flags for comedy plays, and black flags for tragedy plays.

The main entrance to the Globe Theatre also had a crest with the inscription "Totus Mundus Agit Histrionem".