WEEK 4 - THEATRES, ACTORS AND ACTING IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME

There were two different types of playhouses during Shakespeare's time:

Outdoor playhouses, also known as 'amphitheaters' or 'public' playhouses.

Indoor playhouses, also known as 'halls' or 'private' playhouses.

These were both very different and had very different audiences.

The first ever playhouse was called the Red Lion, built in 1567 by John Brayne. He had converted it from the Red Lion Inn and although there is not much evidence of how successful it was, there was definitely a need for it because many more playhouses were built between the 1570's and the 1620's. Some of them were; in 1576, the Theatre and Newington Butts, 1577, the Curtain, and five other theatres. All of them had regular performances but they weren't all plays, they were used for other forms of entertainment too. Most of the theatres were built south of the river because, although they were popular, the officials who ran the City of London thought they were too popular with thieves and other 'undesirable' people. They also thought they were noisy and disruptive. This is why they were built outside the control of the City officials (outside the city wall in most cases). South bank was already popular with the people because there were animal baiting arenas, brothels and taverns where people could buy food and drink so theatres were the perfect addition to all the fun. The outdoor playhouses had: a central yard with no ceiling, a raised stage sticking out into the yard, a roof over the stage (commonly know as 'the heavens') although the first Rose theatre may not have had one, a tiring house behind the stage with a backstage area for the actors to get dressed and wait to come on, above this were lords' rooms, rooms for storage and a room level with 'the heavens' to work the special effects from, there were also galleried seats all around the yard, on several levels which had roofs. Most playhouses had a brick base with timber framed walls. The gaps between the timbers were filled with sticks, hair and plaster. The roofs were made from thatch and tiles.

(Van Buchel's copy of de Witt's drawing of the Swan playhouse)

The Globe had a great history with a few misfortunes. The Lord Chamberlain's Men (the acting company that Shakespeare was a part of) had performed there for ages. But when the lease ran out, the landlord bought the building as well as the land, so The Lord Chamberlain's Men had to be moved for a little while to the Curtain. Then in the winter of 1598, it was taken down by the theatre company, secretly. The same resources were used to rebuild the theatre, only larger, in Southwark, in the spring 1599. In 1613, it unfortunately burned down by a cannon setting fire to the roof during a performance of  Henry VIII. Less than a year later, it was rebuilt and stayed open until 1642. Something that always shocks me when I hear it is the fact that it can seat 3,000 people in the 30 diameter space. Because it is in the round, it must be quite difficult to project and have yourself heard all the time because there may be times when audience is behind you or your not facing them at all, and with all those people for your voice to bounce off of. 

Now of course, being an actor now and being one then was so different just because all the actors were male. Women were able to perform in other parts of Europe, but were only allowed to perform in England in 1660. Shakespeare's time was a serious turning point for an actors career because before, they would just tour around with companies to perform in towns, cities and private houses. By the time Shakespeare's life was over, London had a several permanent theatres for actors to perform in regularly, which in turn, brought in even bigger audiences, much like today. Although going to the theare was so popular, actors had a terrible reputation of being 'unruly' and a 'threat to a peaceful society'. This is very different from today, because if you are talented and a likable person, the media and the people will love you. Actor training was very different from today too. Young boys would join a company as an apprentice to be taught by one of the more senior actors. Actors had to be able to: sword fight, sing and dance as well as having a good memory to learn lines. A wealthy theatre company size (that were working in a theatre permanently) is around the size of an average one today, 8-12 senior actors or sharers and 3-4 boys, a few hired players (hired men), stage hands, tiremen (a dresser nowadays) and some musicians. You couldn't just start a theatre company like you could today. It would have to be under the patronage of a monarch, the Queens Men for example, or a noble man, like the Lords Admiral's Men or the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Company placements were pretty similar as they are today, sometimes in a permanent theatre, sometimes in a touring one and sometimes even abroad. One slight difference is that they would only tour when the permanent theatre closed because of a plague. While the young actors were establishing themselves, the comic female parts, like Juliet's Nurse, were saved for the popular senior comic actors, or clowns. Being an actor did sound quite stressful though because there would never be the same play put on two days in a row, so they'd be doing several plays and several different parts and all with very little rehearsal time in the morning because they would have to perform in the afternoon as they relied on natural light. On top of that, each actor had their own copy of the play with only their lines and the cue lines. What does sound rewarding is that sometimes there would be roles written specifically for one person, for example the clown, Dogberry in 'Much Ado About Nothing' was written specifically for William Kemp because he was known to be good at physical comedy, and the fool character in 'King Lear' was written for Robert Armin who was more talented at witty language rather than slapstick, which is basically how castings happen nowadays too. Even if you may look perfect for the role, they are looking for how well suited that person is for that character. The costumes that Shakespeare generally used were not accurate for the time he was writing for (apart from the odd toga that may have been thrown in for the Roman plays), instead, they used very flamboyant modern dresses, especially for the leading roles. They played an important part in creating a 'spectacle' and bringing in a crowd because they were often second-hand clothes worn by real nobles. Different from today because we generally try to stay true to whatever time period the writer has chosen to create a world in. There was little to no scenery on the stage other than when the plot really need it, like a throne, a grave or a bed. This is sometimes done, but now, directors have the luxury of choosing if they want an extravagant or minimal stage or not. Exits and entrances were in plain view for the audience but had other fun options like descending from the "heavens" or come in and out from the "hell" below which was a trapdoor. This, I feel, should be done more in modern plays but isn't for some reason. It sounds like it could add an interesting dynamic to the setting or could be an interesting concept to play with, not to mention it would probably be heaps of fun to do.