How Did Shakespeare Build 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 better in all aspects. Shakespeare was still a joint owner, but had retired to Stratford. The Globe was never his theater in quite the same aspect that it had been before ( Smith 121). Suddenly, in 1642, the Puritans closed the Globe II.
They felt the theater was sinful and led people astray. The Globe II was torn down two years later to make room for housing. With the destruction of the Globe II, the architectural structure was lost, as well as most pertinent documents (www.shalespeares-globe 2). Nevertheless, the Globe Theater found new life in 1970. Sam Wanamaker established the Shakespeare Globe Playhouse Trust, hired Professor John Orrell to help find the old site, and they identified the original site that very year ( The Original Globe 1). Orrell analyzed a 1647 panorama of London taken from a tower of Southwark Cathedral. Here he found where he thought the Globe Theater was located. The next step in collecting evidence came in 1989. The Globe's original foundations were discovered
on
Bankside, about two hundred yards from the reconstruction site, together with those of the Rose Theater. Ninety-five percent of the site of the original Globe was covered by a listed building-Anchor Terrance (The Original Globe 5). The architects have remained faithful to the use of traditional materials and techniques in order to rebuild the New Globe Theater. The circular theater is made up of twenty wooden bays, each three stories high. These are thatched with Norfolk reed, and the walls are made with lime plaster. The stage is roofed and thatched. On each side of the stage are huge oak pillars, painted to look like marble. There is a coffered and painted canopy over the stage ( The Original Globe 2). This beautiful, new reconstructed Globe Theater opened its doors to the public in August 1994 (The Original Globe 2). Presently, there are many recreations and theaters, which bear the name Globe all over the world, as well as rebuilt versions in London. Had it not been for the vision, determination, and desire of Shakespeare and the Chamberlain Company, many citizens of London would never have been brought to the heights and depths of emotion the storylines portrayed on the stage of the Globe Theater. The Globe was the most important structure to Shakespeare's drama because most of his plays were written to be performed on the stage of the Globe. The Globe Theater will remain one of the most well known structures in history.