Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the playing company of William Shakespeare, initially built the Globe Theater in 1599. After a fire cindered down the theater in 1613, another resurrection was done on the same place in 1614; this however, was shut down in 1642. The current modern “Shakespeare’s Globe” was constructed and opened in 1997, and is around 230 meters distant to the initial site.
The actors who worked for the Chamberlain’s Men also had shareholdings in it. Notably, Richard Burbage, and his brother Cuthbert Burbage, and John Heminges, Augustine Phillips, and Thomas Pope. Although the actual size of the original theater structure can’t be verified, it was said that it was almost a hundred feet in diameter and could seat over three thousand viewers. Later on, it has also been stipulated that it had a polygonal shape.
Where the base of the stage was located, there used to be a pit, where people could stand and see the shows if they paid a penny as the charge. These viewers were referred to as the Groundlings in those times, as they would eat groundnuts during the shows and threw the nutshells about. Many nutshells were even discovered during an excavation of the place. The remainder seating structure was in the form of three tiers, as seen in stadiums, and was relatively pricey compared to the standing room.
In the open-to-air yard, the rectangle shaped “apron stage” was placed and measured almost forty-three feet by twenty-seven feet, with a height of approximately five feet. The apron stage had a small door , which the performers could emerge from onto the stage through the “cellarage” underneath.
The large columns on both sides of the stage also carried a roof and the area was referred to as the “heavens”. This was painted with clouds and skies. There was a small hidden door here that would render performers able to sort of “descend” on to the stage, although with using ropes or other such supports. There was a “tiring” house backstage where the performers could prepare themselves before a show. There was also a balcony that could be either used to seat musicians or if required could be used for enacting the parts of a play, for instance, the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. All of these sections are reconstructed in the new Shakespeare’s Globe theater.
When you visit the the Shakespeare’s Theater, make sure you spend a few days at a London hotel. Millennium Hotel London Knightsbridge has much to offer a visitor and there’s no better way to relax at the end of a day of sightseeing than among the comforts of a high-grade hotel.
