The Globe

1. The Globe • Shakespeare performed his plays here • Constructed in 1599 • On the banks of the Thames River • Near London • Shape: Octagonal • Play time: 2 hours • Cost: One penny

2. The Globe, con’t. • Seating: • Pit: General crowd • Galleries: A small additional fee would get you these seats • Box Seats: Royalty or noblemen only • The capacity for the play performance was 3,000 • Sound effects were made in the huts • Ghosts could appear on stage through trap doors

3. The Globe Theatre History • The first Globe Theatre had a thatched roof. It burnt down in 1613. • The second Globe Theatre was built with a tiled roof, but was torn down in 1644. • A replica was built in 1996 (and opened in 1997) near the original site.

4. DID YOU KNOW? • Gatherers stood at the door of The Globe Theatre with boxes to take admission. This is why a ticket office today is called a “box office.” • The audience on the ground were called “groundlings”. Their seats were only a penny. They weren’t sheltered from the rain, but were closer to the action. • The stage was 5ft. high to keep the audience off of it.

5. Parts of the Globe • The Pit- Sometimes referred to as “The Yard” where the groundlings watched the play for their one-penny admission. • The Stage- Major playing area jutted into the Pit, creating a sense of intimacy with the audience. Hangings curtained off space beneath. • Main entrance- Here the doorkeeper greeted playgoers and collected one penny from everyone.

6. Parts of the Globe • Lord’s Rooms- private galleries; six pennies let a viewer sit here, or sometimes even on the stage itself. • Middle Gallery- called “two-penny rooms” because the seats here were higher priced. • Inner Stage- A recessed playing area often curtained off, then opened for appropriate scenes.

7. Parts of the Globe • Flag- a white flag hoisted above the theatre meant a show would be performed that day. White-comedy, Black-tragedy, Red-history • Stage Doors- doors opening into the Tiring-House. • Hut- a storage area that also held a wench system for lowering enthroned gods or other characters to the stage.

8. Parts of the Globe • Tiring-House- The important backstage area which provided space for storage and business offices. • Stairs- Ascending to the first level, theatre goers reached the galleries by wooden staircases enclosed by stairwells. • Trap Door- Leading down to the Hell area where equipment included the winch elevator that raised and lowered actors or properties.

9. Parts of the Globe • Hell- The area under the stage, used for ghostly comings and goings or for more mundane storage of properties.

10. The Globe, con’t. • Flags, trumpets, and fliers told when there would be a play • The flags also told the audience what type of play they would be seeing: • Red flag = history play • White flag = comedy play • Black Flag = tragedy play

11. Costumes, con’t. • England had “Clothing Acts” which forbade certain classes of people from dressing like a higher class. • So, for an actor-a person of the lower classes- to dress like a nobleman or a king was something of a scandal.