WillShakespeare

The Globe Theatre has been built, torn down, moved piece by piece, rebuilt, burned, remodeled, and built again... here is its story.

The Globe Theatre was the site of Shakespeare's fantastic plays. Its origins are as such: Shakespeare's acting troupe, Lord Chamberlain's Men, originally had their plays in a place simply called "The Theatre." Although The Theatre itself was owned by the Burbage family, (and Richard Burbage himself being the principle actor in the troupe), the land at which The Theatre sat was leased, not owned, by Burbage. When the owner of the land decided not to renew the lease, Shakespeare's acting troupe took matters into their own hands: they dismantled The Theatre piece by piece and moved the timber across the river; they constructed what was now to be known as The Globe. The Globe was built in 1599. A partnership was formed by the principles of The Lord Chamberlain's Men. The Burbage brothers kept a 50% ownership stake in The Globe, while the remaining 50% was divided evenly between Shakespeare, Heminges, Kempe, Phillips, and Pope.

Shakespeare's troupe enjoyed great successes at The Globe. During a performance of Henry VIII on June 29, 1613, the thatched roof of The Globe caught fire due to a cannon shot in part of the play, and the theatre burned to the ground. By that time, the troupe had already bought a second theatre, Blackfriars Theatre, and was operating out of both. The open-air Globe had been better suited to summer performances than Blackfriars. So in 1614 The Globe was rebuilt. Shakespeare passed away only two years later, April 23 of 1616. In 1642, English Civil War takes center stage. Puritans closed down the theatres, and in 1644, The Globe was demolished; tenement housing was erected where past performances once were.

The Globe could seat about 3000 people. It was an open-air structure, a perfect way to spend an afternoon. With no artificial lighting, plays took place when the sun was out. The stage was about 5 feet off of the ground, 43 feet wide, and about 28 feet deep (about 1200 square feet). There were also secondary stages above the lower main stage. These were utilized as well, as in the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. The theatre was three stories high for patrons that paid for seats. The "cheap seats," or "penny seats" were for standing room only near the stage. The stage itself was large enough for sword fights and stunts; it even included a trap-door. The levels behind the main stage area were for storage, wardrobe, and an actor's area during the plays. The Globe no doubt also had some kind of rigging set up to demonstrate the changing of the scenes. In its day, it was a magnificent sight with wonderful banners and pageantry.