Shakespeare facts

Globe Theater: Performance during Shakespeare’s Time

  • Shakespeare globe theater was built in 1599.

  • The Globe Theater was an open-air, in-the-round theater that could hold around 3,000 spectators, most stood in front of the stage.

  • People would pay more for a bad view just for their clothing to be seen.

  • The theater had no artificial lighting, illusions, and no curtains.

  • In London all female parts were played by men.

  • Costumes were the most valuable property, often costing more than the play itself.

  • No typical sets, no lights, no props, no curtains

  • Tickets cost a penny, an additional penny buys a spectator a seat in the balconies

  • Costumes were very valuable so they got protected by the canopy

  • Costumes used for non-verbal storytelling

  • Space under the stage to symbolize hell and graves, Space above symbolized sky and heaven.

Shakespeare

  • Went to a Latin Grammar School as a child

  • His family life was always super busy

  • Born: April 1564

  • Died: April 23, 1616

  • Got baptized at a church

  • Married to Anne Hathaway in 1582

  • His youngest child Hamnet died young at age 11.

  • Twin Children, moved to London whilst his wife was pregnant

  • Plays were not widely published, only in short 8 page “quartos”

  • Shakespeare’s father was a glover in Stratford-Upon-Avon

  • He upheld the Tudor Myth, a dark age theatrical tool to help promote the Tudor period, this was included in The War of Roses

  • During plague when plays were on hiatus, Shakespeare wrote many poems.

  • He got his education from the Stratford Grammar School

Shakespeare Tragedies

  • The Bubonic Plague shifted actors to start touring the country

  • Shakespeare’s tragedies surprisingly have many funny bits.

  • Plays would be played in the afternoon due to having natural light

  • Shakespeare was an actor himself

  • Boys played the roles of women

  • Actors would perform multiple different roles in plays

  • His plays illustrate not just good vs evil but the characters often look face internal turmoil which make the audience more connected to the play

  • The stage was very bare and so the actors had many incredible costumes and would use hand props.

  • Actors needed to memorize different scripts and practice different plays everyday.

  • Shakespeare’s plays are split into 3 categories: Histories, Tragedies, and Comedy’s

  • Fire based special effects were used even though the theater was made of wood

  • Shakespeare's tragedies often explore themes or revenge

  • Shakespeare added a lot of violence in his plays.