Elizabethan theatre

  • Before Elizabeth’s reign, no theatres, only groups of actors travelling country, performing public spaces

    • Miracle or mystery plays and many other historical stories (Shakespeare)

  • Actors treated with suspicion- like vagabonds- without fixed home,

  • Queen and Dudley supported theatre- became patrons ‘the queens men’

  • First London theatre ‘the theatre’ - then the globe in 1599

  • Comedies became popular with rich, women not allowed to perform

  • Entry started at 1 penny- stand in pit- busy, noisy and wet, ‘groundlings’

  • Three covered galleries around, cost 3 pence, protection from rain

  • Wealthiest visitors sit on stage

  • Open roof- performed in afternoon, made of thatch, flammable

  • 1613, cannonball burnt globe to ground

  • Puritans - work of devil, encourage people to be lazy and disorderly

  • Plague spread quickly

  • Queen invited actors to perform at court

  • Censorship law as 1572- license to operate as acting company- stop plays criticising her rile and encouraging rebellion

  • All play scripts read and approved

Before Elizabeth’s reign, there were no permanent theatres; actors performed in public spaces. Miracle and mystery plays were common, but actors were viewed suspiciously as vagabonds. Queen Elizabeth and Dudley supported theatre as patrons, leading to the establishment of the first London theatre, ‘The Theatre’, followed by the Globe in 1599. Comedies gained popularity, but women were not allowed to perform. Entry fees varied: 1 penny for standing in the noisy, busy pit (the ‘groundlings’) and 3 pence for covered galleries that offered protection from rain. Wealthy patrons could sit on stage. The Globe, made with a thatched roof, used to perform in the afternoon but was at risk of fire. In 1613, a cannonball accident burned it down. Puritans condemned theatre as the work of the devil, claiming it encouraged laziness and disorder. The plague spread rapidly, and actors often performed at court under a censorship law enacted in 1572, which required play scripts to be approved to prevent criticism of the monarchy and rebellion.