New+Globe



** By: Tiarra Harper **

William Shakespeare was one of the Elizabethan Era’s greatest playwrights. He was born in 1564 in the small town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Not much is noted about his early childhood such as education but it is apparent that while in school, William excelled in literature and writing. We also know through his plays, he had an outstanding vocabulary (William Shakespeare, 2010). Around 1585 William ventured to London to begin his theatrical career. During the early years of Shakespeare’s success the first Globe Theatre was built. Shakespeare ended up producing over 37 plays which portrayed many walks of life, from kings to servants (Wadsworth, 1996). The Globe Theatre was a very important attraction to spectators back in Shakespeare’s days and even now.

Thanks to the financial fall of James Burbage’s theatre, the Theatre, the Globe was constructed. The Old Globe Theatre was built with similar structure as the colosseums of Rome, appearing to have a circular shape and an open top, seating up to three-thousand people at a time (“Old globe theatre structure”, 2005). It took Shakespeare’s men approximately six or seven months to complete the three story structure. It was constructed of timber, flint, plaster, and nails ("Old globe theatre," 2005). With an open air style no lighting was needed, for the plays were done in the day time around noon. The Globe Theatre was first used in 1599, with the opening production of As You Like It, and continued to be in use by William Shakespeare, Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, and other great playwrights of its time. “The rectangular stage at the front of the theatre was about 43 feet wide and 28 feet deep, and it was raised a few feet off the ground so there was a crawl space underneath. There were trap doors in the floor of the stage and in the Heavens in the roof above the stage for entrances, exits, or special effects” (“Old globe theatre structure,” 2005). Even seating in the Globe had a structure. The wealthy people got to sit in the galleries, while the poorer patrons, called groundlings, would stand in the yard. The yard was the area around the stage. A spot as a groundling would cost one a penny for admission. All good things come to an end and they did for the Globe Theatre. In 1613 to be exact, during a performance of King Henry VIII, there was a pyrotechnic issue and within one hour the Globe Theatre was overtaken by flames (“Old globe theatre structure,” 2005)

Three-hundred and thirty-six years after the tragedy of the Globe Theatre, an American actor by the name of Sam Wanamaker was dumbfounded when he went to London looking for history of The Globe Theatre and only found a brewery with a plaque stating that the Globe stood there over 300 years before (“Today’s Globe Theatre,” 2005). Wanamaker gave up on asking parliament for approval to rebuild the Globe Theatre, so he then decided to take it upon himself to make it happen. A few years later he packed up and moved to London to take on this dream of his (“Today’s Globe Theatre,” 2005). When he began this journey he had in mind to just create an authentic reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe, now the dream is not just a theatre, but the International Shakespeare Globe Centre (“Today’s Globe Theatre,” 2005). The New Globe was constructed similarly to the old one of Shakespeare’s time. There is still an open roof design and it seats up to 3,000 people as it did before. There is still a yard for people to stand to watch the play for a much lower price than to get a seat just like the groundlings of Shakespeare’s time.



Many things have been added to this new and improved Globe Theatre to make it not only for entertainment but also for educational purpose, to teach spectators about Shakespeare and the history of the Globe Theatre. “Construction of the actual building began in 1993, the year Wanamaker died. The theatre opened its doors for visitors in August 1994. Between 1994 and 1996, over 300,000 visitors from all over the world came to see the Globe under construction” (“Today’s Globe Theatre,” 2005). media type="youtube" key="ptgEU91cUzI?fs=1" height="384" width="480" align="center" References Old globe theatre structure. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-globe-theatre-structure.htm This webpage gives interesting facts about the old Globe Theatre’s structure.

//The old globe theatre. //(n.d). Retrieved December 9, 2011, http://www.aressel.com/oldglobe.html  This article gives a general overview of the old Globe Theatre and its structure and plays.

//Today’s globe theatre. //(n.d). Retrieved December 9, 2011, http://www.aressel.com/newglobe.html  This article gives information on the new Globe theatre and how it came about.

Wadsworth, F. W. (1996). William Shakespeare. The world book encyclopedia. World Book, Inc. (Vol. 17, pp. 345-369)  This article talks about William and his life and career in depth, including descriptions of his plays individually.

//William Shakespeare //. (2010). //Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition//, 1-4. Retrieved December 9,2010 from Academic Search Premier database.  His early life and career are briefly depicted in this article.