The Globe Theater

The Globe Theater

The Globe Theater was probably the most famous as well as the most important theater in the Elizabethan era. It stood on the southern shore of the Thames River in London (in Southwark to be exact). The main reason the Globe Theater was especially famous is the fact that many of William Shakespeare's plays were written and performed there. The idea of creating plays and theaters to perform them in was a strange new concept for the Europeans of the Elizabethan Era.

The Chamberlain Company built the theater. William Shakespeare and James Burbage were members of this company, and the profits they made from acting helped to build the Globe Theater. Burbage died in 1597, but his sons continued the fight to build the theater, and in 1599, the Globe Theater was completed. The sons reused the wood from the old Globe, but this was not enough to complete the building. Many people were invited to invest in the theater, but only five people bought shares and the actors that actually used a theater owned no other theater. This gave the company a great advantage over many other theaters. Since there were investors, the costs were shared. This made money less of a problem. The company was saved of rent fees and gave the globe a permanent home (Constabile 2). Since Shakespeare was one of the investors, it really made the globe his theater. The Globe Theater made the very bold claim, "There is nothing in the whole round world which this theater cannot set before your eyes" (Constabile 1), and Shakespeare set out to accomplish this great task. This task he achieved. The Globe Theater was destroyed by fire in 1613, and rebuilt in 1614, and completely renovated in 1987. The Globe Theater is undoubtably the most significant Elizabethan Theater in history.

Twice a year, William Shakespeare's great plays were performed. Londeners of every sort enjoyed going to the theater. The audience consisted of mostly courtiers, merchants, lawyers, craftsmen, idlers, and roughs. The wealthy sat in galleries. Those who were in the yard were a mixed bunch of people: shopkeepers with their families, young apprentices, household servants, soldiers, seamen, fishwives, apple sellers, and laborers of all kinds. Women were not allowed to go alone unless they were selling something. A woman had to go in with a man to show she was respectable ( Constabile 2). Of course, where large crowds gather, so do people who are looking to "profit" from these crowds. Pick pocketers, prostitutes, and shysters frequented the plays. When there people got "out of hand", the local authorities were called to subdue the crowds ( Littel 538). Many times the problems were blamed on the actors, themselves, and they were thrown into jail for causing the dissent.

However, on the 26th of June, 1613, one of Shakespeare's newest plays, King Henry the VIII, was being performed by the King's Men ( formally known as the Chamberlain's Company). With one of the Burbages in the title role, this must have attracted a large audience. When Burbage, playing king Henry the VIII, arrived on stage, a cannon was fired to announce his presence. A spark from the explosion of the cannon set the thatched roof on fire. No one smelled the smoke at first, and those that did thought nothing of it until it was too late ( Smith 119). In less than an hour after the spark hit the thatched roof, Shakepeare's Globe was no more. The King's men decided to rebuild the theater on the old foundation. By the following summer, the Globe Theater was rebuilt and opened to the public once more. The theater was the same as old Globe, if not