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Facts about the Globe Theatre:
- Originally built in 1599.
- It’s nickname was the “Wooden O”.
- Owned by the Lord Chaimberlain’s Men, who worked for Shakespeare.
- The Globe Productions included the most famous early plays of William Shakespeare.
- Most of Shakespeare’s plays, including “Julius Caesar”, “Macbeth”, “Othello”, “King Lear”, “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet” were performed there.
- It was and Elizabethan Theater.
- It cost 1 cent to stand or sit on the ground “Groundlings”.
- It cost 2 cents to sit in the galleries.
- Noblemen paid nothing and were seated in rooms near the stage.
- Plays were always performed during the day because there were no lights
- Music was an extra effect added in the 1600′s. The musicians would also reside in the Lords rooms.
- Shakespeare and his company built TWO Globe Theatres!
- Men played the roles of women and children.
- No curtains were used to signal the end of an act.
- The Globe theatre was built by a carpenter called Peter Smith together with his workforce. They started building in 1597 and it was finished in 1598.
- At the start of the play after collecting money from the audience the admission collectors put the boxes in a room backstage – the box office.
- All theaters located in the City were forced to move to the South side of the Thames River leading to the building of the Globe theatre.
- Advertising – Flags were erected on the day of the performance which sometimes displayed a picture advertising the next play to be performed.
- Color coding was used to advertise the type of play to be performed – a black flag meant a tragedy , white a comedy and red a history.
- Plays produced at the Globe theater had to be vetted to ensure that no unwanted propaganda was spread to the masses of Londoners.
- Fire broke out at the Globe Theatre in June 29, 1613.
- The Second Globe Theatre was built shortly after in 1614.
- The Puritans ended the Globe Theatre in 1642 the Puritan Parliament issued an ordinance suppressing all stage plays. The Puritans demolish the Globe Theatre in 1644.
