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Tony Lowery February 26, 13 1St Block Shakespearian Theatre (Globe) The Shakespearian globe was built in 1599 In Southwark on the South bank of London’s River Thames by Richard Burbage. The globe was built large, round and open aired. There was a roof around the circumference which covered the seating area, leaving the theatre looking like a doughnut from above. Old wood from “The Theatre “created by Richard Burbage was re-used to make the globe. The globe held up to 3,000 spectators and sold out and awful lot.
Shake spears plays were so good at the base of the stage there was a place called “The Pit” which was on the ground. In order to get in the pit you would have to pay a penny and you stand to watch the play. Shake spear was a shareholder who owned 12. 5% of the Globe theatre. As a young writer Shakespeare bought shares in the theatre and benefited financially as his popularity grew. In order for you to identify what type of play was going on that day there were color coded flags used Red= History play, White=Comedy, and Black=Tragedy.
Right above the main entrance you would see a banner known as the motto that read: “Totus mundus agit histrionem” –which is Latin for “The whole world is a playhouse”. When the globe 1st opened there were no actresses so all female roles were played by young boys as theatre stages were considered too risque a place for ladies. During the play Henry VIII there was a canon being used but not the correct way, and because it wasn’t used the right way it set fire to the roof and the fire quickly spread, reportedly taking less than two hours to burn down completely. After burning down in 1613 The Globe Theatre was rebuilt on the same spot in 1614.
The Puritans brought an end to The Globe Theatre in 1642 with an order suppressing all stage plays. In 1644 The Globe Theatre was turned into tenement housing, ending 85 years of turbulent history. The Globe was generally considered to be a circular building, however when a small part of the theatre’s foundations were uncovered the late 1980’s it seems that the building was actually a polygon of 20 sides. In 1997 a third version and faithful reconstruction of The Globe Theatre was built as “Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre”, close to the original site in Southwark.
